English Literature - The School Boy poem - William Blake - SUMMARY

4. The School Boy

--- William Blake

“The School Boy” is a poem written by William Blake.  This poem discusses the views of William Blake regarding his school and the schoolmaster.  In his view, the School Master is a tyrant.  This poem show Blake’s love for nature and quest for freedom.

The first stanza of the poem indicates the jubilant mood of the boy when he rises on a summer morning.  On the summer morn, the birds sing on every tree. The distant huntsman winds his horn. As the skylark sings melodiously, Blake feels the sweet company of nature.  In the second stanza, we find Blake’s view of the school and the schoolmaster.  He imagines that schoolmasters take their place by the side of God, Priests and fathers. In the third stanza, Blake finds that the schooling comes in the way of the boy’s communion with nature.  When Blake is in the school, he cannot take delight in books.  He cannot sit in the classroom.  In the fourth stanza, Blake feels that a child sent for schooling will not be happy.  He will be scared of the school teacher.  Blake’s opinion on the schoolboy is that he is almost a bird imprisoned in a cage and forced to sing, being deprived of joy. 

Many pastoral images can be found in the poem.  The poet tells about the possibilities of innocence, that always does the right things and learn right things from nature in herself without the man-made restrictions and disciplines.