Blake's The Schoolboy deals with a theme very central to his own ideals and identity, as he was a strong critic of formal institutions and lack of creativity brought by the industrial revolution. Blake uses the motif of a schoolboy to communicate the joy that comes from a lively spirit linked to freedom which is then annihilated by the sorrow and lethargic disinterest caused by a formalized educational system. This contrast between innocence, happiness, imagination and oppression, sorrow and rationality expresses Blake's criticism against an educational system that is based on fear, which kills any creative spark. Through the use of contrasting diction that symbolizes change in the schoolboy's psyche, metaphors alluding to oppression, natural imagery as symbols of purity, and parallel structures to amplify contrasts, Blake creates a poignant and thought-provoking play about the dangers of fear. induce education. Throughout the six stanzas, contrasting diction is used to symbolize the change in the mind of a child who makes the painful transition from freedom to oppression. The idyllic, almost utopian tone of the first stanza is reinforced by sayings with very positive connotations 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 joyful and innocent. In the second stanza, this lively, optimistic tone clearly changes, as shown by the change in diction. From the second stanza onwards, the words are negatively charged. A world that was once depicted with the most basic yet universally appealing symbols of happiness like love and gentleness has now transformed into a world of darkness and subjugation... middle of paper.... .. that it belongs to “Songs of Experience” shows the cynical and critical nature of the tone, which quickly shifts from idyllic to tragically downtrodden. Although the main focus and target of Blake's criticism is formal education, there is an echo of a larger social problem that Blake also despised: industrialization and a world ruled by rationality. The poem is fundamentally a critique of a society numbed by numbers and machines and deprived of all creative effort. This powerful social denunciation is conveyed by soaring natural metaphors, symbolic natural images, parallel structure and contrasting diction. Blake uses a voice of experience and vision to empathize with the plea of ​​every child to continue playing in the summer, not as a sign of laziness, but as a sign of much-needed imagination and freedom..