“The School Boy” Summary

“The School Boy” Themes

• 

  Education, Play, and Freedom

  • See where this theme is active in the poem.
• 

  Childhood Potential vs. Maturity

  • See where this theme is active in the poem.

Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “The School Boy”

• Lines 1-5

  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!

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

• Lines 6-10

  But to go to school in a summer morn,—
  O it drives all joy away!
  Under a cruel eye outworn,
  The little ones spend the day
  In sighing and dismay.

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

• Lines 11-15

  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 through with the dreary shower.

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

• Lines 16-20

  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!

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

• Lines 21-25

  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,—

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

• Lines 26-30

  How shall the summer arise in joy,
  Or the summer fruits appear?
  Or how shall we gather what griefs destroy,
  Or bless the mellowing year,
  When the blasts of winter appear?

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

“The School Boy” Symbols

• 

  The Huntsman and Skylark

  • See where this symbol appears in the poem.

“The School Boy” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

• Repetition

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺
  • See where this poetic device appears in the poem.

• Extended Metaphor

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺
  • See where this poetic device appears in the poem.

• Rhetorical Question

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺
  • See where this poetic device appears in the poem.

• Alliteration

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺
  • See where this poetic device appears in the poem.

“The School Boy” Vocabulary

Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

• Morn
• Huntsman
• Winds
• Skylark
• Outworn
• Learning's bower
• How can a child [...] But droop
• Annoy
• Care's
• Mellowing
• Blasts

• • See where this vocabulary word appears in the poem.

Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “The School Boy”

• Form

• Meter

• Rhyme Scheme

“The School Boy” Speaker

“The School Boy” Setting

Literary and Historical Context of “The School Boy”

More “The School Boy” Resources

• External Resources

  • A Blake Documentary — Watch a feature on Blake's life, courtesy of the UK's South Bank Show.

  • The Poet's Life and Work — A biography of William Blake at the Poetry Foundation.

  • British Romanticism 101 — An introduction to the literary movement with which Blake is frequently associated.

  • The Poem, Illustrated — Blake was a visual artist as well as a poet. Check out his hand-illustrated copy of "The School Boy."

  • The Poem Sung! — Famous 20th-century poet Allen Ginsberg performs "The School Boy" as a song.

• LitCharts on Other Poems by William Blake

  • A Dream

  • Ah! Sun-flower

  • A Poison Tree

  • Earth's Answer

  • Holy Thursday (Songs of Experience)

  • Holy Thursday (Songs of Innocence)

  • Infant Joy

  • Infant Sorrow

  • Introduction (Songs of Innocence)

  • London

  • Nurse's Song (Songs of Experience)

  • Nurse's Song (Songs of Innocence)

  • The Chimney Sweeper (Songs of Experience)

  • The Chimney Sweeper (Songs of Innocence)

  • The Clod and the Pebble

  • The Divine Image

  • The Ecchoing Green

  • The Fly

  • The Garden of Love

  • The Human Abstract

  • The Lamb

  • The Little Black Boy

  • The Little Vagabond

  • The Sick Rose

  • The Tyger

  • To Autumn

  • To the Evening Star