William Blake was an English poet, painter and printmaker during the Romantic Age. Though largely unrecognized during his lifetime, he is now considered an important figure in Romantic art and poetry. Blake produced symbolically rich works that embraced imagination. The document discusses Blake's poem "The School Boy" which contrasts the joy of a summer morning with the drudgery of being trapped inside a classroom, likening the boy to a caged bird. It analyzes the poem's themes of alternative education methods and the importance of learning from nature.

1. -William Blake
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3.  William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August
1827) was an English poet, painter, and
printmaker. Largely unrecognized during his
lifetime, Blake is now considered a seminal figure
in the history of the poetry and visual arts of the
Romantic Age.
 His visual artistry led one contemporary art critic to
proclaim him "far and away the greatest artist
Britain has ever produced". In 2002, Blake was
placed at number 38 in the BBC's poll of the 100
Greatest Britons. He produced diverse and
symbolically rich work, which embraced the
imagination as "the body of God" or "human

8.  The first few lines of the poem marks the freshness of
summer morning and the fragrance of Innocence. The boy
expresses his liking towards the song of birds and the
huntsman blowing the horn. He likes the company but
suddenly the joy turns bitter as he should attend the school
and sit in the classroom under the cruel eyes of teachers. It
drives all the energy and the joy of summer. The boy is
compared to a bird in cage meaning he was born to be free
but instead is now trapped inside the classroom for formal
education.

9.  The Poem is arranged in six stanzas with five lines each, it
contains a rhyme scheme of ababb.
 This poem reflects William Blake’s thoughts of alternative
methods of education. It shows the draining element of
classroom education and how it causes students to
contribute poor learning. The poet promotes learning
outside the classroom, especially learning in nature which
increases natural Creativity.
 As a poet of Romanticism, William Blake has shown the
importance of Nature in the poem. The references such as
summer, wind, blossoms, rain showers, birds and spring
relate to the importance of Nature.