“After Blenheim” y “The Inchcape Rock” de Robert Southey: la balada como expresión moral e ideológica

Abstract

Robert Southey's prose writings are undoubtedly highly valued mostly for the great clarity and simplicity of the formal expression. These are, we believe, the most outstanding features of his style. Nevertheless, these same traits are also the most relevant features in his verse compositions, especially in such popular ballads as “After Blenheim” and “The Inchcape Rock”. In these two poems, in particular, the above characteristics reveal not only highly aesthetic qualities but also become an efficient tool for the transmission of an utterly relevant message. The author makes use of an apparently paradoxical or contradictory choice of very simple vocabulary and syntax in order to express a transcendent truth which “should” be equally clear and evident to everyone: first, those who make war are not heroes; second, sooner or later the wicked will get what they deserve.