The Schoolboy
I love to rise on a summer morn,When birds are singing on every tree;The distant huntsman winds his horn,And the skylark sings with me:Oh what sweet company!
But to go to school in a summer morn,--Oh it drives all joy away!Under a cruel eye outworn,The little ones spend the dayIn 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 bower,Worn through with the dreary shower.
How can the bird that is born for joySit in a cage and sing?How can a child, when fears annoy,But droop his tender wing,And forget his youthful spring?
Oh father and mother, if buds are nipped,And blossoms blown away;And if the tender plants are strippedOf their joy in the springing day,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,When the blasts of winter appear?
Words in this poem
- morn n.
- The first part of the day; the morning; -- used chiefly in poetry. [OE. morwen, morgen, AS. morgen; akin to D. morgen, OS. morgan, G. morgen, Icel. morginn, morgunn, Sw. morgon, Dan. morgen, Goth. maúrgins. Cf. Morrow, Morning.]
- huntsman n.
- One who hunts, or who practices hunting.
- skylark n.
- A lark that mounts and sings as it files, especially the common species (Alauda arvensis) found in Europe and in some parts of Asia, and celebrated for its melodious song; -- called also sky laverock.
- dreary a.
- Sorrowful; distressful. [OE. dreori, dreri, AS. dreórig, sad; akin to G. traurig, and prob. to AS. dreósan to fall, Goth. driusan. Cf. Dross, Drear, Drizzle, Drowse.]
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Schoolboy is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems of William Blake, Project Gutenberg ebook #574; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: William Blake, The Schoolboy, in Poems of William Blake (1783–1794), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #574, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/blake-poems/the-schoolboy.html, id L02023.
Form and metre
The Schoolboy is 30 lines in 6 stanzas of 5 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABABB, complete in 4 of its 6 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 84%). 87% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.8 syllables. 4 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 10% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 ABAB- mornA · treeB · hornA · meB · company
- 2 ABABB mornA · awayB · outwornA · dayB · dismayB
- 3 -A-AA sit · hourA · delight · bowerA · showerA
- 4 ABABB joyA · singB · annoyA · wingB · springB
- 5 ABABB nippedA · awayB · strippedA · dayB · dismayB
- 6 ABABB joyA · appearB · destroyA · yearB · appearB
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| I love to rise on a summer morn, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| When birds are singing on every tree; | 10 | ···/˘·/˘˘· |
| The distant huntsman winds his horn, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| And the skylark sings with me: | 7 | ··/···· |
| Oh what sweet company! | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| But to go to school in a summer morn,-- | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Oh it drives all joy away! | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Under a cruel eye outworn, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The little ones spend the day | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| In sighing and dismay. | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| Ah then at times I drooping sit, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And spend many an anxious hour; | 9 | ··/˘·/˘/˘ |
| Nor in my book can I take delight, | 9 | ·······˘/ |
| Nor sit in learning's bower, | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| Worn through with the dreary shower. | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| How can the bird that is born for joy | 9 | ········· |
| Sit in a cage and sing? | 6 | ······ |
| How can a child, when fears annoy, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| But droop his tender wing, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And forget his youthful spring? | 7 | ·˘/·/˘· |
| Oh father and mother, if buds are nipped, | 10 | ·/˘·/˘···· |
| And blossoms blown away; | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| And if the tender plants are stripped | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Of their joy in the springing day, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| By sorrow and care's dismay,-- | 7 | ·/˘··˘/ |
| How shall the summer arise in joy, | 9 | ···/˘˘/·· |
| Or the summer fruits appear? | 7 | ··/˘·˘/ |
| Or how shall we gather what griefs destroy, | 10 | ····/˘··˘/ |
| Or bless the mellowing year, | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| When the blasts of winter appear? | 8 | ····/˘˘/ |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.