William Blake uses this poem in order to convey a message to the

William Blake uses this poem in order to convey a message to the

audience regarding childhood. He does this by using various literary

and linguistic approaches throughout this piece of writing.

The reader can depict that there are two voices used in this poem and

they have been presented in a creative way. Blake has chosen to write

six stanzas; the first three in the voice of a child, and the second

three in the voice of himself. In the first three stanzas, Blake

demonstrates contrasts between the feelings of the child. The first

stanza is written in the first person narrative, which gives the text

a more personal effect.

“I love to rise in the summer morn”

This opening line of this poem shows the reader the enthusiasm shared

by the child. The abstract noun ‘love’ immediately gives the poem

emotion. Its shows exaggeration and gives the reader a pictorial image

of how the child would rise in the summer morn. However, this happy

emotion is contradicted in the second and third stanzas. The author

uses lexical choices such as ‘sighing’, ‘dismay’, and ‘drooping’ which

shows the reader that the emotions of the voice in the opening stanzas

have been reversed and the atmosphere is no longer pleasant like in

stanza one.

Blake uses two settings in which the scene is set in this poem. The

first stanza reveals the scene as being set in the outdoor. References

are made to ‘birds’, ‘winds’ and ‘sings’ which are all things

associated with happiness and the outdoors. These are dynamic verbs;

used to help emphasise the atmosphere and to what extent the child

likes it.

The second and third stanzas reveal the scene of being at school, in a

classroom.

“But to go to school on a summer morn”

This shows us that the child is expressing his feelings towards his

school life. The connective ‘But’ gives the reader the impression of

uncertainty and hesitation, which strengthens the fact that the child

does not enjoy school. The mood of the poem suddenly changes and the

reader is made aware of the fact that the child does not enjoy the

process in which he is educated.

Various contrasts are made throughout the poem to symbolise the

contrasting feelings of the child when in the outdoors compared to

when at school.

“I love to rise in a summer morn” is contrasting to “… at times I

drooping sit”

The author has used opposing verbs in these lines, which shows the

difference between what the child voice feels towards two different

settings. These two sentences give the reader the impression that the

child is eager to get up in the mornings to explore the outdoors