The School Boy summary line by line
The School Boy Summary
Lines 1-5: Here the speaker is a schoolboy. He says that he loves to get up in a summer morning because this time the birds sing on the trees. He hears the sound of shooting from the gun of hunter from far away. He listens to the song sung by the skylark and the boy and the skylark sing and enjoy the summer morning together. The boy is entertained by the sweet company of the birds in the morning.
Lines 6-10: The schoolboy is disappointed in an unpleasant atmosphere in school. He says that the school removes all his joys and pleasure in the morning because he becomes tired in school and he becomes puzzled under the strict supervision of his teacher. Actually, he likes to enjoy the summer morning but does not get that friendly environment in school. He has to spend the day in fear and becomes bored in school.
Lines 11-15: The boy says that he spends many anxious hours sitting in the classroom. He cannot get pleasure from books and even he cannot enjoy sitting at the reading table. He has to listen to his teacher's boring and unnecessary lectures.
Lines 16-20: The child asks his parents a bird which is born to have pleasant and enjoyable time cannot sing sitting in a cage. In the same way a child who is agitated and unsettled with fear cannot but sit with head downward. Continuous fear makes him gloomy and spiritless. He becomes oblivious of the joy and happiness of his tender or young age.
Lines 21-30: He tells his parents that if buds get spoilt, if flowers fall off the trees owing to storm or rough wind and if the young trees are deprived of the joy of spring because of sadness and cares fear, the summer cannot reveal itself. In that situation the fruits of summer cannot be seen. He also tells we cannot enjoy happiness if it is destroyed by sadness. In the same way ripening year cannot give us anything if the strong wind of winter blows and destroys everything. The poet wants to mean that childhood is the period when children grow up physically and mentally. So they should be allowed to grow in a pleasant and healthy atmosphere.
The School Boy Short Summary
The poem is about the predicament of the school children. The boy wants to rise in the summer morning with the chirping of the birds. But at school, children are controlled with an iron hand which tells upon their mental growth. As a result, the ill-fated boy makes a request to his father to make an arrangement to save him from this suffocating situation. The poet comments that if the children are not allowed freedom, their dreams will be nipped in the bud.
The School Boy theme
The poem describes the yearnings of a little school boy suffering from mental agony. Every child demands the pleasant and charming learning environment. A child loves to get up in the summer morning hearing the chirping of birds. But the joy disappeares at the angry eyes of the teachers. As a result, in dismay, the child cannot concentrate on study.
