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‘The School Boy’, whilst not one of William Blake’s best-known poems, focuses on a subject that was often close to his heart: the life of children, and particularly the unjust ways in which they are treated by society.
The poem is a dramatic monologue in the voice of an 18th-century English schoolboy, who hates being cooped up in his classroom and would much rather play outside in the summer sun. The poem treats his frustration as not only serious but tragic, suggesting that the school system traps students like "bird[s]" in "cage[s]" and prevents them from ...
- Summary
- Themes
- Structure and Form
- Literary Devices
- Analysis, Stanza by Stanza
- Similar Poetry
- About William Blake
‘The Schoolboy’ by William Blake is told from the perspectiveof a young boy who is trying to get out of ever going back to school, stating that it is negatively impacting him. The poem begins with the young narrator speaking on his ideal morning. He wakes and hears the birds and the “distant huntsman” blowing his “horn.” The second stanzajumps to t...
Blake makes use of some interesting and important themes in ‘The Schoolboy’. He explores childhood and youth, as well as themes of education, nature, and freedom in this piece. His main character and speaker, the schoolboy, spends the poem describing the difference between freedom in the natural world and the cruel restrictions of formal education....
‘The Schoolboy‘ by William Blake is separated into six stanzas of five lines, called quintets. The first two stanzas rhyme is a scheme of ABABB, ACACC while the last four diverge, rhyming (with alternative endings) ABCBB or ABABB. The lines are all around the same length and vary between using enjambmentand en-punctuation.
Blake makes use of several literary devices in ‘The Schoolboy’. These include but are not limited to alliteration, anaphora, and a wonderful example of a metaphor. The latter is seen in the final lines of the poem as the speaker compares his youth and happiness, as well as his mental state, while at school to the destruction of a plant. This is all...
First Stanza
In the first stanza of this piece, Blake introduces the reader to his main character and speaker. The poem is told from the perspective of a young school-age boy who feels trapped in the monotony of everyday attendance to his studies. He speaks with the conscience of an older man, projecting the emotions and beliefs common to the Romantic poets, of which Blake was one. The young narrator speaks about the things he loves in this first stanza. He loves “to rise in a summer morn” and hear the bi...
Second Stanza
The second stanza presents the exact opposite— things that “drive all joy away!” When he is forced to rise on a “summer morn” and go to school, unable to stay in his peaceful environment, he is unhappiest. He bemoans him, and his classmate’s, fate; that they are stuck inside, “In sighing and dismay.”
Third Stanza
The young speaker continues on, telling the reader more about his miserable days at school. He sits “drooping,” hunched over in his seat. He takes no pleasure in school work and is anxiously waiting for the end of the day. He cannot even take “delight” in his book, or “sit in learning’s bower” as it has been all “Worn through” by rain. It is clear from these lines that the child is not averse to learning in general, he appreciates reading and understands the joys that can be gained from encom...
Similar poems that make use of the same themes that Blake uses in ‘The Schoolboy’ are not hard to find. Many writers have thought about what the best way to learn is and how nature might provide a better source of knowledge, no matter one’s age. A perfect example of this is ‘When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer’ by Walt Whitman. Other similar poems ...
William Blake was born in London, England in November of 1757. Blake was raised in humble conditions and had a normal childhood except for the fact that he was consistently subjected to visions. When he called to have seen God’s head in a window sill at four years old and later the Prophet Ezekiel and a tree full of angels. From a young age, Blake ...
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Mar 17, 2017 · Here are ten of the finest poems about school and schooldays, teachers and pupils, classrooms and chalkboards. 1. Oliver Goldsmith, ‘ The Village Schoolmaster ’.
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Aug 16, 2021 · Written by MasterClass. Last updated: Aug 16, 2021 • 5 min read. From flowing words to rhythmic beats, poems have a lyrical quality that is pleasing to the ear. But to truly understand poetry, you must unpack it—examine each element on its own to discover what a poem means.
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