The School Boy

1. Who, do you think, ‘I’ refers to in the poem?
Answer:
T refers to the schoolboy.

2. Sweet company refers to
a) Skylark
b) Huntsman’s horn
c) Bird’s song
d) All the above three
Answer:
a) Skylark

3. What drives the boy’s joy away?
Answer:
To go to school on a summer morning drives the boy’s joy away.

4. How do the little ones spend the day in the school?
Answer:
The little ones spend the day in sighing and dismay

5.What does cage stand for in the poem?
Answer:
Cage stands for school.

6. Pick the phrase from the following which does not refer to formal schooling.
(a) Buds are nipped
(b) Fruits are gathered
(c) Plants are stripped
(d) Blossoms are blown away
Answer:
(b) Fruits are gathered

7.Relate the seasons mentioned under column A with the stages of life under column B.

A	B
1.   Spring 2.   Summer 3.   winter	(a)  Youth (b)   Old age (c)    childhood

Answer:
1 – c, 2 – a, 3 – b

II. Question 1.

What does the school boy love to do on a summer morn? What drives his joy away?
Answer:
The school boy loves to rise in a summer morn. The birds will sing on every tree. The distant huntsman winds his horn. And the skylark sings with the boy. But to go to school on a summer morn drives all joy away.

Question 2.
Describe the boy’s experience in the school.
Answer:
The boy spends the whole day in sighing and dismay in the school. He sits drooping in the desk. He had many anxious hours. He did not take delight in his book. He feels that he is born for joy sitting in a cage and sing.

Question 3.
According to the poet how does formal education curb a learner’s potential?
Answer:
William Blake believed in freedom of speech, democracy and ‘free love’, for these reasons he disagreed strongly with formal education and conventional teaching in both schools and churches. He believed that this constrained people stopping them from having their own thoughts.

Blake believed that children who were not given a formal education would want to learn off their own accord making learning more fun and enjoyable for the child. Blake portrays these opinions in the poem The schoolboy’; which he chose to write in the voice of ‘the schoolboy’ himself, to stand up for children whose views on schooling are rarely acknowledged.The children are asked to sit many hours in the school.

A learner used to spend many anxious hours. He cannot take any delight from his books. Sitting in the school is like being in a cage. The learner cannot show the total skills and abilities because of the curriculum he is undergone. Thus formal education, curbs the learner’s potential.

III.Question 1.

Formal schooling not only takes away the joy of childhood but also hinders the child’s growth forever. Explain.
Answer:
William Blake embraced school and always7 advocated for formal education. He always advocated for hard work and quality in education.William Blake believed formal schooling puts a limitation for the children in the school.

Question 2.
Do you think the poet is arguing against education? Discuss.
Answer:
No, the poet is arguing against the ill-treated in the school. He speaks about the freedom of the school going children. The education should be enjoyable and amusement. It has to provide a child to grow mentally, intellectually, socially and psychologically.