2.

The School Boy

William Blake

Summary
‘The School Boy’ is a poem included in William Blake’s collection, ‘Songs of Experience’, going to school on a summer
morning, which is a misery to him. He sits at his desk in boredom and cannot pay attention to the lesson. So, desperately does
he want to play outside, which can be understood in the fourth verse, ‘How can the bird that is born for joy sit in a cage and
sing?’
Here the poet is comparing young children so full of energy to birds who deserve to move freely in the winds. But like
some birds trapped in the cage children are trapped in the class room where they cannot express themselves and cannot
capitalize on all that access energy and therefore their potential is wasted.
The speaker addresses parents in the final two verses asking how ‘if buds are nipped………. And if the tender plants are
stripped of their joy……… How shall ……….. the summer fruit appear?’ i.e. If children are stripped off their ability to play and have
fun, how shall they grow and develop to the fullest extent.
This poem is about allowing children to be themselves i.e to enjoy and play, to experience the beauty of nature. This
practice is equally as beneficial to them as academic learning.

I. 1.Who do you think, ‘I’ refers to in the poem?

1. ‘I’ refers to the school boy in the poem.

2. ‘Sweet Company’ refers to

a) skylark b)huntsman’s horn c)bird’s songs d) all the above

3. What drives the boy’s joy away?

3. Going to school in the summer morning drives away all the joy of the boy.

4. How do the little ones spend the day in the school?

4. The little ones spend the day in the school in sighing and dismay.

5. What does ‘cage’ stand for in the poem?

5. The ‘cage’ stand for school, classroom with all its restrictions.

6. Pick the phrase from the following which does not refer to formal schooling.
6. Fruits are gathered.

7. Relate the seasons mentioned under column A with the stages of life under column B
A B
1. Spring Childhood
2. Summer Youth
3. Winter Old age

8. When does the school boy love to rise?

8. In a summer morning the school boy love to rise.

9. Who are the little ones?

9. The school going children are the little ones.

10. Why does the child not take delight in the book?
10. The child does not take delight in the book because it finds the task tiresome and the books boring.

11. What is the school boy compared to?

11. The School boy is compared to the caged bird.

12. Why are the little ones anxious?

12. The little ones are anxious because they know that in school they will be controlled by the authoritative ways of teaching.
13. What does the school do to a boy?
13. It drives all the joy away.

14. The phrase ‘cruel eyes’ refers to…………

14. Teachers and their authoritarian ways of teaching.

II. 1. What does the school boy love to do on a summer morn? What drives his joy away?
1. The school boy loves to be happy in a summer morn by enjoying nature in all its glory. He wants to listen to the melody of the
birds to see them enjoying. He wants to see the distant huntsman when it blows the horn and he also like to hear skylarks
melodies songs and to join the bird in singing. This all is sweet company to him. But he feels sad to go to school in summer
morning because he does not want to be there where he can’t move freely and going to school drives his joy away.

2. Describe the boys experience in the school.

2. Boy feels that his natural joy is crushed and destroyed in the school. He feels separated from the beauty of nature which
nourishes his mind. At school he feels miserable since he has to sit under the control of cruel eyes. The teacher appears to be
the symbol of authority here. Instead of spending time in the sweet company of skylark and hunter man’s horn he has to spend
it in sighing and dismay.
The boy wants to enjoy the summer but he has the obligation of going to school. At school the boy sits like caged bird in
drooping way and he is unable to concentrate and enjoy the learning. for many hours sitting continuously makes the boy tired.
Time passes very slowly and the classes never end. The boy cannot enjoy learning as he is constantly under fear.

3. According to the poet how does formal education curb a learner’s potential?
3. The poem is about effects of formal education on a person’s life. It criticizes the restrictions of society on nature loving human
mind. Here, the poet talks about the child that wakes up in the summer morning joyfully. All the happiness disappears when he
realizes that he has to go to the school. He cannot sit for long hours under the strict eyes of the teachers who represent the
authoritarian characteristics and he compares the situation of the school to same as the caged bird, as the boy does not feel
comfortable in the restricted surrounding. The boy wants to enjoy his youthful spring. Therefore, the overall impression
conveyed in the poem is a proposal of a new kind of learning based on nature, rather than the formal education which curbs the
learners potential.

III.1. Formal schooling not only takes away the joy of childhood but also hinders the child’s growth forever. Explain.
1. Formal schooling with its restrictions kills the natural joy of the children. The school offers monotonious course of study to all
the children irrespective of their learning capacity which makes their learning process more mechanical. The aptitude of children
is not taken into consideration. The teachers who are the symbol of authority pressurize the children. The students feel that
their freedom is taken away by rules and regulations.
In the poem the boy complains about being shut inside his school instead of playing outside. He wants to be with nature
which is one of the best ways of development. The natural joy which is mentioned in the first stanza displays the difficulties of
the formal education. The negative experience in school can affect the lives of the students.
There is comparison between a school boy and caged bird. The school is compared to a cage which controls the
children’s free self-expression. The last two stanza shows how an insensitive education system hinders the overall growth of a
child. The poem also illustrates the serious effect of an authoritative approach through formal education. This curbs the
creativity of the children.

2. Do you think the poet is arguing against education? Discuss.

2. No, the poet William Blake is not arguing against education. He believes the education system must give enough opportunity
to the students to express themselves and to allow to develop their creativity, imagination, curiosity and avoid the unnatural
direction of their growth. Strict rules retards the development of their confidence. An authoritative teacher not only causes
suffering for the children but also limits the students ability of learning from their experience.
The school is a symbol of authority and the poet is against the system. According to his school does not promote the
mental growth of the child. Books, assignments and class-room work restricts the child from its growth and there is no time left
to play and enjoy. The poet suggest that present education system destroys the joyful innocence of the child. He wishes his
readers to see the differences offered by close contact with nature and improper development of the mind, caused by demand
of so called education system.