Leisure - William Henry Davis

Introduction to context:

William Henry Davis (1871-1940)

- welsh poet, was homeless (tramp) in the UK and USA.

- popular and well known poet in the Georgian era and is known for direct simplistic verse often commenting on mans relationship with nature, 

- Leisure is one the most famous poems and has recently been used for adverts, centre parcs and orange mobile. 

- He showed the pace of life... 

Modernity - 19th Century = industrialisation - 20th Century = motor car and countries turned into cities. 

Exploring the poem through language levels

Lexis and semantics: 

• Enrich - gives an affect of nature and improving. 
• Poor - used to describe people who are nature deprived. 
• Lexis - simplistic words - child-like reflects his need for simplicity in life.
• Personified nature - "watch her feet, how they can dance" relates to the grass and flowers dancing.
• Repetition - emphasises lack of time, each stanza is end stopped. Rhyme is child-like and simplistic, Personification of beauty, persuades you to admire nature. it is obvious that we are oblivious to nature.
• Lack of adjectives within the poem, 
• Nature - relates to female qualities
• Sibilance - S sound, gentle, relaxing, calm, Relates to nature.
• Simple syllable. 

Final paragraph - William Blake.

Original: 

Blake feels education is a system which denies validity of imagination. Blake describes education as depressing in stanza two, by using vocabulary such as "sighing and dismay", "cruel" and "drives all joy away." He believes it denies imaginative freedom and spirituality. Blake compares the schoolboy to the caged bird, as though the boy like the bird is being imprisoned by education. The schoolboy in school and the bird being caged are seen as equivalents that both represent the caging of imaginative vision. Blake also uses the plant and applies it to the schoolboys present and future. He feels education "strips" the joy of the young schoolboy and because his imagination is trapped, the schoolboy cannot grow like the plant. 

Refined: 

Blake feels education is a system which denies validity of imagination. In stanza two, he displays how the "little ones" feel towards education by using the verbs "sighing and dismay" and Blake also explains his attitude towards education by using harsh lexis like "cruel" and "drives all joy away". He believes it denies imaginative freedom and spirituality. Blake compares the schoolboy to the caged bird, the bird represents freedom and the cage represents prison or being trapped somehow. Blake tries to state the schoolboy and the bird are seen as equivalents, free and spiritual and education is the cage; a prison or trap that captures the schoolboy and locks away his freedom. Both represent the caging of imaginative vision. Blake uses imagery of plants to also resemble the schoolboy, the connotations of plants are nature, green, beauty and growth. Blake uses the imagery of plants to show how his freedom allows him to grow as a child within nature and not within education. His attitude towards education shows Blake feels it "strips" you of growth because the schoolboy is deprived from freedom, because his imagination and freedom is trapped within this cage called education, the schoolboy cannot grow like the plant.

The Schoolboy - William Blake.

Context:

- William Blake 18th century poet and wrote poetry during the romantic period of literature. 

- 18th century romanticism explores explores the relationship between man and nature, it focuses on the power of imagination and natural genius - freedom and personal expression. 

- Pastoral poem: symbolic of a simple and natural way of life. 

- Poem forms part of a collection of poems called "songs of innocence and experience" and the poem reflects philosophical thinking of the relationship between good and evil.

Themes & ideas:

- explores the social issue of 18th century education. How do we educate without oppressing? - creative innocence and natural learning of children.

- Emotional state: frustration about traditional learning depressing state. 

- Relationship between innocence (the boy) and experience (the parents) = battle between authority. 

- Freedom within education: nature is viewed as a place of joy.

Discourse:

The poem is structured into stanza's and displays an argument, starts with an introduction, makes a couple serious points and ends with a conclusion. Blake writes in the first person and uses sophisticated language while making his points. Blake shows main themes such as: education, freedom, simplicity, innocence and experience and authority (parents and school), all these themes have a sense of conflict. 

Lexis and Semantics:
Use of imagery:
- Birds = wings , freedom, colours and songs.
- Cage = prison, trap and home.
- Plants = green, nature, beauty and growth.
All this use of imagery relates to what Blake is trying to explain. Birds link with wings and the freedom of the child; cage relates to a prison which is meant to resemble the education system or school. And plants resemble the growth and beauty of the innocent child.

Depressing lexis "sighing and dismay" is used to express a child's emotion towards education.