E-LESSON-2 ENGLISH LITERATURE-1

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B.A. 2ENGLISH LITERATURE-1 All right are reserved with CU-IDOL ENGLISH LITERATURE-1 Course Code: BAQ105 Semester: First SLM UNITS : 2 E-Lesson: :2 www.cuidol.in Unit-2 (BAQ 105)

THE MARRIAGE OF TRUE MINDS 33 OBJECTIVES INTRODUCTION Student will be able to :. Blake valued imagination above reason, but unlike later Romantics, he deferred to inner After studying this unit, you will be able to visions and spiritual perception understand the significance of the poet William Blake. Understand largely unrecognized during his Blake’s explorations of good and evil, heaven and lifetime, Blake is regarded today as an major, if hell, knowledge and innocence, and outer versus inner iconoclastic figure, a religious visionary,whose art reality were unorthodox and perplexing to 18th century and poetry prefigured, and came to influence the Romantic movement sensibilities www.cuidol.in Unit-2 (BAQ 105) INASllTITriUgThEt aOrFeDreISsTeArNveCdE AwNitDh OCNUL-IIDNOE LLEARNING

4 > THE SCHOOL BOY – WILLIAM BLAKE ENGLISH LITERATURE-1 www.cuidol.in Unit-2 (BAQ 105) All right are reserved with CU-IDOL

THE SCHOOL BOY– WILLIAM BLAKE  William Blake was a 19th century writer and artist who is 5 regarded as a seminal figure of the Romantic Age. https://crossref-it.info/textguide/songs-of-innocence-and-  His writings have influenced countless writers and artists experience/13/1635 through the ages, and he has been deemed both a major poet and an original thinker.  Born in 1757 in London, England, William Blake began writing at an early age and claimed to have had his first vision, of a tree full of angels, at age 10.  He studied engraving and grew to love Gothic art, which he incorporated into his own unique works.  A misunderstood poet, artist and visionary throughout much of his life, Blake found admirers late in life and has been vastly influential since his death in 1827. www.cuidol.in Unit-2 (BAQ 105) All right are reserved with CU-IDOL

EARLY YEARS OF AUTHOR 6 •William Blake was born on November 28, 1757, in the Soho https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Blake district of London, England. All right are reserved with CU-IDOL •He only briefly attended school, being chiefly educated at home by his mother. •The Bible had an early, profound influence on Blake, and it would remain a lifetime source of inspiration, coloring his life and works with intense spirituality. •At an early age, Blake began experiencing visions, and his friend and journalist Henry Crabb Robinson wrote that Blake saw God’s head appear in a window when Blake was 4 years old. • He also allegedly saw the prophet Ezekiel under a tree and had a vision of “a tree filled with angels.” Blake’s visions would have a lasting effect on the art and writings that he produced. www.cuidol.in Unit-2 (BAQ 105)

7 THE YOUNG ARTIST Blake’s artistic ability became evident in his youth, and by age 10, he was enrolled at Henry Pars’s drawing school, where he sketched the human figure by copying from plaster casts of ancient statues. At age 14, he apprenticed with an engraver. Blake’s master was the engraver to the London Society of Antiquaries, and Blake was sent to Westminster Abbey to make drawings of tombs and monuments, where his lifelong love of gothic art was seeded. THE MATURING ARTIST In 1779, at age 21, Blake completed his seven-year apprenticeship and became a journeyman copy engraver, working on projects for book and print publishers. Also preparing himself for a career as a painter, that same year, he was admitted to the Royal Academy of Art’s Schools of Design, where he began exhibiting his own works in 1780. Blake’s artistic energies branched out at this point, and he privately published his Poetical Sketches (1783), a collection of poems that he had written over the previous 14 years. www.cuidol.in Unit-2 (BAQ 105) All right are reserved with CU-IDOL

LATER YEARS 8 In 1804, Blake began to write and illustrate Jerusalem (1804-20), his most ambitious work to date. He also began showing more work at exhibitions (including Chaucer’s Canterbury Pilgrims and Satan Calling Up His Legions), but these works were met with silence, and the one published review was absurdly negative; the reviewer called the exhibit a display of “nonsense, unintelligibleness and egregious vanity,” and referred to Blake as“an unfortunate lunatic.” Blake was devastated by the review and lack of attention to his works, and subsequently, he withdrew more and more from any attempt at success. From 1809 to 1818, he engraved few plates (there is no record of Blake producing any commercial engravings from 1806 to 1813). He also sank deeper into poverty, obscurity and paranoia. www.cuidol.in Unit-2 (BAQ 105) All right are reserved with CU-IDOL

THE POEMS OF WILLIAM BLAKE 9 •William Blake was a poet who was not very well recognized during his lifetime. •It was not until his sixties, when his work began to receive credit as leading a new literary movement in England at the time that was really triggered by William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, who were both much younger than Blake and of a superior social class. •In his younger years, William Blake’s poetry was written off as lunacy by most of his contemporaries, and although he is recognized now as the ‘grandfather’ or the ‘Romantic period’, he was in fact, much older and far removed from that time. www.cuidol.in Unit-2 (BAQ 105) All right are reserved with CU-IDOL

THE POEMS OF WILLIAM BLAKE 10 •The poems of William Blake reinterpret the spiritual history of the human race from the fall from Eden to the beginning of the French Revolution. •Blake believed in the correspondence between the physical world and the spiritual world and used poetic metaphor to express these beliefs. •In his poetry, we hear a man who look's for mankind to salvage his redemption from oppression through resurgence of imaginative life. • The power of repression is a constant theme in Blake’s poems and he articulates his belief in the titanic forces of revolt, and the struggle for freedom against the guardians of tradition. www.cuidol.in Unit-2 (BAQ 105) All right are reserved with CU-IDOL

11 THE POEMS OF WILLIAM BLAKE •What is important to keep in mind when discussing or reading Blake’s poetry is that, a lot of his poems were accompanied with some sort of illustration, painting, or in the case of the prophecies and songs, copper plates. •It is difficult to fully grasp the poet’s intentions without having access to the artwork married to the poem. •Additionally, his earliest work, “Poetical Sketches,” which is a collection that a lot of the poems discussed here are taken from, shows dissatisfaction with the reigning poetic tradition and his restless quest for new literary forms and techniques. •Eventually, Blake’s genius would blossom and his thinking began to be articulated in giant forms, leading to the creation of complete mythology and extremely symbolic epics. www.cuidol.in Unit-2 (BAQ 105) All right are reserved with CU-IDOL

FIRST STANZA 12 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! In the first stanza of this piece, Blake introduces the reader to his main character and speaker. The poem is told from the perspective of a young school age boy who feels trapped in the monotony of the everyday attendance of his studies. He speaks with the conscience of an older man, projecting the emotions and beliefs common to the Romantic poets, of which Blake was one. The young narrator speaks about the things he loves in this first stanza. He loves “to rise in a summer morn” and hear the birds singing “on every tree.” Further in the distance, he can hear the horn of the “huntsman” and the song of the “skylark” who seems to sing only for him. These are the types of company he desires. This is when he is happiest, a sentiment that many a Romantic poet has expressed. Unit-2 (BAQ 105) All right are reserved with CU-IDOL www.cuidol.in

13 SECOND STANZA 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. The second stanza presents the exact opposite — things that “drive all joy away!” When he is forced to rise on a “summer morn” and go to school, unable to stay in his peaceful environment, he is unhappiest. He bemoans his, and his classmate’s fate; that they are stuck inside, “In sighing and dismay.” www.cuidol.in Unit-2 (BAQ 105) All right are reserved with CU-IDOL

THIRD STANZA 14 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 through with the dreary shower. The young speaker continues on, telling the reader more about his miserable days at school. He sits “drooping,” hunched over in his seat. He takes no pleasure in school work and is anxiously waiting for the end of the day. He cannot even take “delight” in his book, or “sit in learning’s bower” as it has been all “Worn through” by rain. It is clear from these lines that the child is not adverse to learning in general, he appreciates reading and understands the joys that can be gained from encompassing oneself within the “bower,” or sanctuary, of learning. It is only the structure of school that he cannot stand. The child expresses his weariness. He sits drooping out in the sea of tediousness. The child restrains the assault on him by the oppressive personality of the teacher and unnecessary lectures (shower of meaningless words). The finicky teacher gushes his words of erudition without even attempting to understand the child’s intention and his urge for unchecked freedom. The learning’s bower refers to a garden where the child can be taught in an interesting way, only if nature accompanies him instead of the school teacher. www.cuidol.in Unit-2 (BAQ 105) All right are reserved with CU-IDOL

FOURTH STANZA 15 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? In the fourth stanza of “The School boy” the speaker questions his reader, demanding an answer to a rhetorical question. He pleads with whoever is listening and asks how a “bird that is born for joy,” referring to himself or others that think like him, be asked to “Sit in a cage and sing?” He knows that he was made to learn, read, and write, but he cannot do so in school, a place he considers equal to a cage. He now turns to begging on behalf of other children. He makes the case for all those trapped indoors. He professes to worry for their wellbeing and the fact that while they are inside, their “tender” wings drooping, they are forgetting the “spring” of their youth. These children, just like he is, are missing out on the joys of being a child. A bird which is born cheerful and jovial can never sing sweet songs if caged. Similarly, a child if retained under the umbrella of annoying fear and tension, the skepticism of his teacher, can never enjoy the natural instincts of joy and playfulness. Indeed, a world full of rigid course of discipline will ruthlessly take away the beautiful springs (the childhood days) of a person’s life. www.cuidol.in Unit-2 (BAQ 105) All right are reserved with CU-IDOL

FIFTH STANZA 16 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 cares dismay, In the fifth quintet of the poem, the speaker turns to address his parents as he sees them as the ones that could possibly change his situation. If only he can convince them to see things his way! In this stanza, he presents them with the reasons why they should not force him to go to school. He speaks about his own childhood joys as being “buds” that are being “nipped” and “blossoms” that are blowing away. His happiness is delicate like the “tender plants” and he should not have to be subjected to “sorrow and cares dismay” at his young age. He need not feel so unhappy when he is only a child. The boy complains to the highest authority, to his father and mother, of a budding child who is picked and swept off in the early stage of life in an ocean of sorrow, where there is no one to care for. If misery withers the tender plants, the beautiful buds and the new born buds, summer can never be joyful. www.cuidol.in Unit-2 (BAQ 105) All right are reserved with CU-IDOL

SIXTH STANZA 17 How shallthe summer arise in joy, Or the summer fruits appear? Or how shallwe gather what griefs destroy, Or bless the mellowing year, When the blasts of winter appear? If all of the things stated in the fifth stanza happen, if he is indeed stripped of his joy and given sorrow in return, then how can his parents expect the appearance of fruit in the summer. They should, he states, worry that due to their choices he will never be the same. He will be unable to stand the “blasts of winter” when they appear. While this poem did appear in “Songs of Experience”, this child has yet to reach an age in which he will truly feel sorrow or despair. His youthful melodramatic appeal will fall on deaf ears. If care and concern rule over the plants, flowers and birds, such a summer will be dry and will bear no fruit. The child enquires his parents as to how they can win back what grief hasdestroyed. If the plants are withered due to the canker of grief, no fruit will be there in the season of autumn (mellowing year). This implies that if childhood pleasures and joys are censored and truncated, one has to be very sure that the adult life will be utterly dry and unproductive. www.cuidol.in Unit-2 (BAQ 105) All right are reserved with CU-IDOL

18 CRITICAL APPRECIATION OF THE SCHOOL BOY BY WILLIAM BLAKE The School Boy, was originally published in “The Songs of Innocence”. Blake put this poem in The “Song of Experience” when the combined volume was published. This poem is appropriate in “Songs of Experience” as we find the elements of restriction imposed on the carefree life of the school boy. The poem marks the freshness of summer morning Though the first few lines provide a fragrance of innocence, there is a spontaneous fill of restriction. The boy summons his liking to be one with the birds and be in the distant fields blowing the huntsman clarion. The moments of euphoria is curtained in the clouds of experience. The boy has to go with the bitter memories of attending his school and the tiring lectures. It drives all the vigor and vitality of summer that he has drunk making him droop in front of the cruel eyes of the teacher from the daylong thraldom. www.cuidol.in Unit-2 (BAQ 105) All right are reserved with CU-IDOL

Ah! Then at times I drooping sit. 19 And spend many an anxious hour. “The School Boy” is a six-stanza poem of five lines each. Each stanza follows an ABABB rhyme scheme, with the first two stanzas using the same word “morn” to rhyme in the first lines. The repetition of the word “morn” as well as similarly low-sounding words such as “outworn,” “bower,” “dismay,” and “destroy” lend the poem a bleak tone, in keeping with the school boy’s attitude at being trapped inside at school rather than being allowed to move freely about the countryside on this fine summer day. Blake suggests that the educational system of his day destroys the joyful innocence of youth Blake himself was largely self-educated and did not endure the drudgery of the classroom as a child. Again, the poet wishes his readers to see the difference between the freedom of imagination offered by close contact with nature, and the repression of the soul caused by Reason’s demands for a so-called education. www.cuidol.in Unit-2 (BAQ 105) All right are reserved with CU-IDOL

20 THEME OF THE ‘THE SCHOOL BOY’ •Theme of the ‘The School Boy’ by William Blake The poem, discusses a boy’s repelling imprisonment at his school, from his company with the animate objects of the summer morning (birds, flowers etc) to the inanimate object of his school which is indeed a matter of concern and grief. •School life is an ordeal for him. •The boy’s filling of summer festivity is countered by the terrifying eye of the teacher that robs from him all his childhood happiness. School is nothing but a prison that negates the playful activity of childhood. •The restriction of an imposed school, forms a hurdle for the natural expression of creativity and forlorn the essence of geniusness. www.cuidol.in Unit-2 (BAQ 105) All right are reserved with CU-IDOL

SUMMARY 21 “The School Boy” by William Blake is told from the perspective of a young boy who is espousing the cause of many children, that school is negatively impacting him. The poem begins with the young narrator speaking on his ideal morning. He wakes and hears the birds and the “distant huntsman” blowing his “horn.” The second stanza jumps to the mornings he despairs of, in which he is forced to leave his peaceful sanctuary and go to school. The next two stanzas are infused with melodrama and are meant to elicit sympathy with the reader. The boy describes his miserable days at school and how, like a trapped bird that cannot sing, he should not be required to learn in restraints. The speaker turns to plead with his parents. He tells them that if this continues, his “buds” are going to be “nipped,” his joy ripped from him, and the loss of his childhood will result in an unpreparedness for life. He will not be able to last through the real trials of life, or winters as he describes them. www.cuidol.in Unit-2 (BAQ 105) All right are reserved with CU-IDOL

MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS 22 1. Who is the ‘I’ in the poem? (a) An old man (b) A school teacher (c) A passerby (d) A school boy 2. He is unwilling to go to the school because __________. (a) He will miss the joys of the summer mornings (b) He will miss the delicious dishes prepared by his mother (c) His classmates will tease him (d) His teacher will beat him 3. What is his impression about the teacher? (a) He calls his teacher ill-mannered (b) He thinks his teacher is not highly qualified (c) He calls his teacher a cruel, weary old person (d) He thinks his teacher is just like his mother 4. Which word in the stanza means ‘disappointment’? (a) Drive (b) Outworn (c) Sighing (d) Dismay Answers:1.(d) 2.(a) 3. ( c) 4.(d) www.cuidol.in Unit-2 (BAQ 105) All right are reserved with CU-IDOL

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTION 23 Q:1.What is the theme of the Poem ‘The School Boy’? Ans. Theme of the ‘The School Boy’ by William Blake The poem, discusses a boy’s repelling imprisonment at his school, from his company with the animate objects of the summer morning to the inanimate object of his school which is indeed a matter of concern and grief. “For Further details please refer to the SLM” Q:2. Explain the later years of Poet. Ans:In 1804, Blake began to write and illustrate Jerusalem (1804-20), his most ambitious work to date. He also began showing more work at exhibitions ,but these works were met with silence, and the one published review was absurdly negative; the reviewer called the exhibit a display of “nonsense, unintelligibleness and egregious vanity,” and referred to Blake as“anunfortunate lunatic.” For Further details please refer to the SLM” www.cuidol.in Unit-2 (BAQ 105) All right are reserved with CU-IDOL

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTION 24 Q:3. Explain the other literary work of William Blake. Ans: William Blake was a poet who was not very well recognized during his lifetime. It was not until his sixties, when his work began to receive credit as leading a new literary movement in England at the time that was really triggered by William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, who were both much younger than Blake and of a superior social class. In his younger years, William Blake’s poetry was written off as lunacy by most of his contemporaries, and although he is recognized now as the ‘grandfather’ or the ‘Romantic period’, he was in fact, much older and far removed from that time. “For Further details please refer to the SLM” Q:4. Explain theme of the ‘The School Boy’ by William Blake. Ans: Theme of the ‘The School Boy’ by William Blake The poem, ‘The School Boy’ discusses a boy’s repelling imprisonment at his school, from his company with the animate objects of the summer morning (birds, flowers etc) to the inanimate object of his school which is indeed a matter of concern and grief. School life is an ordeal for him. “For Further details please refer to the SLM” www.cuidol.in Unit-2 (BAQ 105) All right are reserved with CU-IDOL

REFERENCES 25  https://www.biography.com/writer/william-blake  2. https://poemanalysis.com/the-schoolboy-by-william-blake-poem-analysis/  3. https://beamingnotes.com/2013/06/24/the-school-boy-analysis-by-william-blake/  4. https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/William_Blake  5. https://www.poetryloverspage.com/poets/blake/schoolboy.html  6. https://englishsummary.com/lesson/schoolboy-poem-summary/  7. Morris Eaves, Robert N. Essick, and Joseph Viscomi (eds.), “Songs of Innocence and of Experience, Object 20 (Bentley 53, Erdman 53, Keynes 53) ‘The School Boy’”, William Blake Archive, Retrieved April 28, 2015.  8. Eaves, Morris; Essick, Robert N. and Viscomi, Joseph, “Songs of Innocence”, The William Blake Archive, Retrieved 9 April 2015.  9. Blake, William (1908), The Poetical Works of William Blake, ed. by John Sampson, London: Oxford University Press, Retrieved 31 March 2015. www.cuidol.in Unit-2 (BAQ 105) All right are reserved with CU-IDOL

26 THANK YOU www.cuidol.in Unit-2 (BAQ 105) All right are reserved with CU-IDOL