Schoolboy , The Analysis

I love to rise in a summer morn

When the birds sing on every tree;

The distant huntsman winds his horn,

And the skylark sings with me.

O! what sweet company!



But to go to school on a summer morn,

O! it drives all joy away;

Under a cruel eye outworn,

The little ones spend the day

In sighing and dismay.



Ah! then at times I drooping sit,

And spend many an anxious hour,

Nor in my book can I take delight,

Nor sit in learning's bower,

Worn thro' with the dreary shower.



How can the bird that is born for joy

Sit in a cage and sing?

How can a child, when fears annoy,

But droop his tender wing,

And forget his youthful spring?



O! father and mother, if buds are nipped

And blossoms blown away,

And if the tender plants are stripped

Of their joy in the springing day,

By sorrow and care's dismay,



How shall the summer arise in joy,

Or the summer's fruits appear?

Or how shall we gather what griefs destroy,

Or bless the mellowing year,

When the blasts of winter appear?

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This essay really helped me with my school homework. We had to analyse the imagery of the schoolboy. Thanks

| Posted on 2008-04-08 | by a guest

.: Notes you may find useful :.

At the time William Blake wrote 'The Schoolboy' there was an intense social change affecting society as the Industrial Revolution began with the mechanisation of the textile industries, the development of iron-making techniques and the increased use of refined coal.
Blake hated this change in society and the exploitation of children's labour in the Industrial Revolution.

Blake believed in the innocence of childhood pleasures and published 'songs' of innocence and experience in which he made reference to the Aristotle theory of celestial existance.

The poem is all about the confinements of the classroom in which children are restricted in when they could be out exploring the wondors of nature instead of under the eye of the cruel head master.

The first stanza is full of excitment and happiness as the child wakes up to hear the sound of the birds, making auditory appeals to the senses 'birds sing, winds his horn, skylark sings'.
The upbeat tone of the iambic pentameter rhyme scheme reflects the child's joy and the idyllic rural setting connotes a carefree attitude.

But as the poem progresses we see that the boy has to go to school on this Summer Morn and an extended metaphor is applied
'How can the bird that is born for joy, sit in a cage and sing?' which is using imagery of the boy as a bird trapped in a cage, the setting isn't natural and the boy wants to learn but not in the restrictive education that is expected of him.

Continuous verbs such as 'drooping, sighing' and the verb 'dismay' and adjective 'anxious' emphasise the boys emotions. The word 'drooping' connotes an image of a flower, wilting in uncongenial conditions and this anticipates the imagery of stanza five.

The boy wants to learn, but he feels he could learn so much more if he was outside under the 'bower'.
Helen

| Posted on 2007-05-21 | by a guest

.: Notes you may find useful :.

At the time William Blake wrote 'The Schoolboy' there was an intense social change affecting society as the Industrial Revolution began with the mechanisation of the textile industries, the development of iron-making techniques and the increased use of refined coal.
Blake hated this change in society and the exploitation of children's labour in the Industrial Revolution.

Blake believed in the innocence of childhood pleasures and published 'songs' of innocence and experience in which he made reference to the Aristotle theory of celestial existance.

The poem is all about the confinements of the classroom in which children are restricted in when they could be out exploring the wondors of nature instead of under the eye of the cruel head master.

The first stanza is full of excitment and happiness as the child wakes up to hear the sound of the birds, making auditory appeals to the senses 'birds sing, winds his horn, skylark sings'.
The upbeat tone of the iambic pentameter rhyme scheme reflects the child's joy and the idyllic rural setting connotes a carefree attitude.

But as the poem progresses we see that the boy has to go to school on this Summer Morn and an extended metaphor is applied
'How can the bird that is born for joy, sit in a cage and sing?' which is using imagery of the boy as a bird trapped in a cage, the setting isn't natural and the boy wants to learn but not in the restrictive education that is expected of him.

Continuous verbs such as 'drooping, sighing' and the verb 'dismay' and adjective 'anxious' emphasise the boys emotions. The word 'drooping' connotes an image of a flower, wilting in uncongenial conditions and this anticipates the imagery of stanza five.

The boy wants to learn, but he feels he could learn so much more if he was outside under the 'bower'.
Helen

| Posted on 2007-05-21 | by a guest

.: :.

Another reason for focusing attention on this poem is its subject matter. This poem is about the effects of formal education on a person's life. What happens to children when they enter school? Do they lose anything in exchange for the opportunity to study in an organized setting? Do they gain anything in exchange for giving up their natural activities? How much of an effect does education really have? What is the individual teacher's responsibility? One possible benefit to be derived from a reading of "The School Boy" is an understanding of Blake's ideas regarding education and learning: Blake, according to letters he wrote, began teaching himself languages as a middle-aged adult and reported having great success. "I go on merrily with my Greek & Latin: am sorry that I did not begin to learn languages early in life as I find it very easy" (Erdman, p. 727). It is conceivable that from an analysis of "The School Boy," the reader can gain insight directly applicable to language teaching practices.
The first stanza establishes the phonetic rhythm and meter of the poem and evokes an initial semantic network of relationships in a reader's mind. These original patterns stimulate anticipatory inferences as the reader moves through the text; the complete effect in the end is achieved through the combined results of reinforcing and breaking the established patterns (Leech, p. 65).

| Posted on 2005-04-25 | by Approved Guest