The old man in Southey’s poem ‘After Blenheim’ is Old Kaspar, a man who had suffered much in the hands of warmongers during the Battle of Blenheim. He is a representative of the common stereotype people who glorify war without a reason. He is someone who wants to stick to the old ideals.

With Kaspar were his two grandchildren — Wilhelmine and her brother Peterkin — the representatives of a new generation who try to question everything. They ask their grandfather why he thinks the war to be ‘great’ and ‘famous’.

The grandfather was sitting before his cottage door, in the sun, as his work for the day was over. The two children were playing in the green field beside him.