The schoolboy | The school boy | I love to rise in a summer morn

I love to rise in a summer morn

Language: English

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.

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 learning's 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 and mother, if buds are nipp'd
And blossoms blown away,
And if the tender plants are stripp'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?

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

by William Blake (1757 - 1827), "The schoolboy", appears in Songs of Innocence and Experience, in Songs of Experience, no. 25, first published 1794 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

by George Antheil (1900 - 1959), "The school boy", 1948, from Songs of Experience, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
by Ernst Bacon (1898 - 1990), "The schoolboy", 194-?, published 1958 [ SS chorus and piano ], from Four innocent airs, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
by William Bolcom (b. 1938), "The school boy", 1956-81 [ solo voices, chorus, orchestra ], from Songs of Experience, Volume Two, no. 12 [sung text not yet checked]
by Elyse Donathan Curtis (b. 1929), "The school boy", c1974, first performed 1974 [ medium voice, chorus, and piano ], from Nine Songs of William Blake, no. 9 [sung text not yet checked]
by Ole Carsten Green (b. 1922), "The schoolboy", op. 27a no. 25 (1973) [ voice and piano ], from Songs of Experience, no. 25 [sung text not yet checked]
by Alfred Matthew Hale (1875 - 1960), "The school boy", op. 29 no. 5, published 1913 [ voice, piano, and violin obbligato ], from Five Songs, no. 5, London : A. Lengnick [sung text not yet checked]
by Wilfred Josephs (b. 1927), "The schoolboy ", op. 80 no. ? (1971), from A Child of the Universe, London : Novello [sung text not yet checked]
by Dorothy Hill Klotzman , "A summer morn", published c1967 [ 2-part chorus a cappella ], from Poetical Sketches, no. 4, NY : Mercury Music Corp. [sung text not yet checked]
by Dorothy Hill Klotzman , "How can a child", published c1967 [ 2-part chorus a cappella ], from Poetical Sketches, no. 7, NY : Mercury Music Corp. [sung text not yet checked]
by Ellen Raskin (1928 - 1984), "The schoolboy", published 1966 [ voice and piano or guitar ], from Songs of Innocence, no. 22, Garden City, NY : Doubleday [sung text not yet checked]
by Christopher Steel (b. 1939), "The schoolboy", 1971 [ baritone and piano ], from Piping Down the Valleys Wild, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
by John Austin Sykes (1909 - 1962), "The schoolboy" [ baritone and piano ], from Songs of Experience, no. 19 [sung text not yet checked]
by Ethel Lillian (Boole) Voynich (1864 - 1960), "The school boy ", published c1924 [ SSAA chorus ], NY : H. W. Gray ; London : Novello [sung text not yet checked]

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 30
Word count: 187