The School Boy

The School Boy 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 sky-lark sings with me.
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,
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 learnings 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 & mother if buds are nip'd,
And blossoms blown away,
And if the tender plants are strip'd
Of 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.

This poem seems to use lots of hyperbole, to emphasise on the point that preceeds it. For example, "But to go to school in a summer morn,/O! it drives all joy away". Here, William Blake is exaggerating on the school boy's reluctance to go to school on a lovely "summer morn". Other examples of hyperbole are:
"When the birds sing on every tree;"
"The little ones spend the day,/In sighing and dismay."

Now to move on to metaphors
"How can the bird that is born for joy,/Sit in a cage and sing."
I'm pretty sure this is a metaphor. It relates the child to a bird, and school to a cage. The school boy does not want to go willingly into a cage, to learn to "sing" when he was "born for joy".
"Ah! then at times I drooping sit,"
This relates the school boy to a wilting plant. The bored boy sits, slouching on his table, is compared to a weak plant that desperately needs nourishment.

"O! father & mother if buds are nip'd,
And blossoms blown away,
And if the tender plants are strip'd
Of 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. "

This whole stanza should be a metaphor.
Here, school is the wind, blowing away the blossoms and nipping at the bud, instead of letting them drop naturally. How can the "Summer fruits" appear this way?

I like this peom because I can relate to it, being a student. It explains every student's hatred of school and gives them a good reason not to. Jokes aside, This poem is also beautiful as it uses many examples of nature, especially the bird, as it relates best to a child and freedom. This poem is written by one of my favourite poets, William Blake, and I enjoy reading his other poems as well. This is one of his "innocence" poems and the school boy reflects that innocence well.