“The Schoolboy” by William Blake

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:
5 O what sweet company!

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
10 In sighing and dismay.

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 bower1,
15 Worn through with the dreary shower.

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,
20 And forget his youthful spring!

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,
25 By sorrow and care’s dismay,—

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,
30 When the blasts of winter appear?
“The Schoolboy” from Songs of Innocence and Experience by William Blake. Copyright 1868 by Basil Montagu Pickering. Public domain.

1bower: pleasant, shady place under trees
Read lines 11-12.

Ah then at times I drooping sit,
And spend many an anxious hour;
How does the imagery affect the meaning of the poem?

by creating sympathy for the speaker

by creating sympathy for the speaker

by suggesting the speaker is unreliable

by suggesting the speaker is unreliable

by creating a controlling picture of the speaker’s parents

by creating a controlling picture of the speaker’s parents

by developing the speaker’s desires

by developing the speaker’s desires