William Blake was an English poet, painter, and printmaker during the Romantic Age. The poem "The School Boy" by William Blake expresses the sorrow and dismay of a young boy who dislikes going to school every morning, comparing it to being caged like a bird. Though he understands the importance of learning, he finds the school environment restrictive and dull, robbing children of joy. The poem explores the themes of nature, youth, and the balance between education and freedom.

1. William Blake

4. William Blake (28
November 1757 – 12
August 1827) was an
English poet, painter,
and printmaker. Largely
unrecognised during his
life, Blake is now
considered a seminal
figure in the history of
the poetry and visual art
of the Romantic Age.

6. The poem “The School Boy” by Wiliam Blake tells us
with the sorrow and dismay of a young boy who
dislikes going to school every morning. He expresses
his displeasure by comparing his situation to that of
a caged bird and flower that is withered at its early
stage. Although he is well-aware about the
importance of learning and is willing to gain
knowledge, his only problem is with the restricted
and dull environment schools provide, that robs
little children like him of all the joy and happiness.

7. 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.
Word Meaning:
Morn– literary term for morning
Winds– (here) plays
Skylark– a common Eurasian and North African
lark of farmland and open country, noted for its
prolonged song given in hovering flight

8. 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.
Word Meaning
Sighing– emit a long, deep audible breath
expressing sadness, relief, tiredness
Dismay– distress

9. 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.
Word Meaning:
Drooping– bend
Learning’s bower– a place where someone comes to
learn
Worn– very tired
Thro’- non-standard spelling of through
Dreary shower– depressingly dull or repetitive

10. 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.
Word Meaning:
Tender– soft

11. O! Father and Mother, if buds are nip’d,
And blossoms blown away,
And if the tender plants are strip’d
Of their joy in the springing day,
By sorrow and cares dismay, How shall the summer
arise in joy,
Or the summer fruits appear?
Word Meaning:
Nip’d– Nipped; ‘to nip something in the bud’ is to
stop or destroy it at an early stage of its development
Strip’d– stripped; (here) robbed

12. When I was young,
I went to school
With pencil and foot rule
Sponge and slate,
And sat on a tall stool
At learning’s gate.
At an early age, following the milestones of growth set up by
the society the poet too was enrolled in school for partaking
education, the path everyone has to walk on to attain
supposed knowledge and enlightenment. The poet had with
him the usual materials needed to attend classes, pencil, foot
rule, sponge and slate. Armed with the weapons of education
he recalls sitting on a tall stool, at “learning’s gate”, referring
to standing at the threshold of the world of learning.

13. When I was older, the gate swung wide;
Clever and keen-eyed
In I pressed,
But found in the mind’s pride
No peace, no rest.
As the poet grew older, learnt more, gained more
knowledge, the “gate” of “learning” swung wide, in
other words opened wider as he understood way more
and knew more than before. Blessed with the attributes
of being clever and keen to learn, the poet “pressed” in
further, reaching deeper in the world of edification.
Enlightened and knowledgeable, his mind was proud of
all that it has achieved, It was this pride that caused him
to be not able to gain peace or rest.

14. Then who was it taught me back to go
To cattle and barrow,
Field and plough:
To keep to the one furrow,
As I do now?
Unable to secure peace, the poet from there onwards
found his way back to “cattle and barrow, field and
plough”, the land he had come from, to “keep to the one
furrow”, regaining all the calmness of the soul from that
source. However he continues thinking who was it that
taught him to go back, who was it who showed him the
way and taught him to do as he did then.