The Schoolboy



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.
O! what sweet company!

But to go to school on a summer morn,
O! it drives all joy away;
Under a cruel eye outworn,
The little ones spend the day
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 bower,
Worn thro' 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,
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,
By sorrow and care's dismay,

How shall the summer arise in joy,
Or the summer's fruits appear?
Or how shall we gather what griefs destroy,
Or bless the mellowing year,
When the blasts of winter appear?

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on May 02, 2023

57 sec read
352

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABABB ACACC XDXDD EFEFF GCGCC EHEHH
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 943
Words 189
Stanzas 6
Stanza Lengths 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5

William Blake

William Blake was an English poet, painter and printmaker. more…

All William Blake poems | William Blake Books

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