Blake's The Schoolboy addresses a theme very central to his ideals and identity, as he was an avid critic of formal institutions and the lack of creativity brought by the Industrial Revolution. Blake uses the motif of a schoolboy to convey the joy that comes from a lively spirit akin to freedom that is then crushed by the pain and lethargic disinterest caused by a formalized education system. This contrast between innocence, bliss, imagination and oppression, pain and rationality is shown to express Blake's criticism against an educational system that is based on fear, which kills every creative spark. Through the use of contrasting diction that symbolizes the change in the boy's psyche, metaphors that allude to oppression, natural imagery as symbols of purity, and parallel structures to amplify the contrasts, Blake creates a touching and thought-provoking piece about the dangers of fear. induce education. Throughout the six stanzas contrasting diction is used to symbolize the change in the spirit of a child who makes the painful transition from freedom to oppression. The idyllic, almost utopian tone of the first stanza is created by a diction connoted very positively such as 'love' (1) and 'sweet' (5). These words are monosyllabic, simple and pure, just like those of children who are not yet corrupted and enjoy their freedom and their right to be cheerful and innocent. In the second verse, this lively and optimistic tone clearly changes, as demonstrated by the change in diction. From the second verse onwards the words take on a negative charge. A world that was once described with the most basic yet universally appealing symbols of happiness such as love and sweetness, has now turned into a world of darkness and submission... middle of paper... that belongs to the " Songs of Experience" shows the cynical and critical nature of the tone, which quickly shifts from idyllic to tragically oppressed. Although Blake's main focus and main target to criticize is formal education, there is an echo of a larger social issue that Blake despised: industrialization and a world governed by rationality. The poem is fundamentally a criticism of a society that has been numbed by numbers and machines and that has been deprived of any creative effort. This powerful social commentary is conveyed by the flowing natural metaphors, natural symbolic imagery, parallel structure, and contrasting diction. Blake uses the voice of experience and vision to sympathize with the plea of ​​every child who wants to continue playing in the summer, not as a sign of laziness, but as a sign of much-needed imagination and freedom..