8. Fill in the blanks to form a summary

“” is a poem written by William Blake. The poem is divided into five stanzas. In the first stanza, he wakes to the sound of birds and enjoys the pleasant  morning. However, the tone shifts in the later stanzas as he expresses his dislike of going to school. He says that the children spend their days in utter despair under the “” of their teacher. The speaker also compares his plight to a , and a tender plant whose life has been plucked away. He also poses several  questions to his parents and society, expressing the meaningless life of young students.

 

 

According to the speaker, a school is a place where a child's individuality and independence are snatched away. Schools are often associated with punishments and . As a result, the child's wings of imagination and possibilities are restrained, and he is made to forget his "". The speaker asks his parents how can summer be enjoyable when there is a lot of  happening within him. He wonders how a plant can produce  when the bud and blossoms are plucked away. Likewise, how can a child grow into a talented and successful person if the very  is stolen away from them? The poem is a call to action against the constraining, cage-like  and the intolerable pressure and  forced upon the kids by their parents.