The School Boy

Introduction:

“The School Boy” is a poem included in William Blake’s collection ‘Songs of Innocence’. It is told from the perspective of a young boy going to school on a summer day. The boy loves summer mornings, but to have to go to school when the weather is so nice is a misery to him. He sits at his desk in boredom and cannot pay one iota of attention to the lesson.

Meanings of words and phrases:

• distant: far away
• outworn: out dated or old
• dismay : feel distressed
• drooping : sag down from weariness or dejection
• anxious : a feeling of worry, nervousness, or unease
• bower : an enclosed area
• dreary : depressingly dull and repetitive

Rhyme Scheme:

The rhyme scheme of the first five stanzas is ababb and the last two lines have the rhyme scheme ab.