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Difficulty: MediumAnalysis of Prescribed Non-African Poems

Read the excerpt below from William Blake's prescribed non-African poem 'The School Boy':

"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?"

What figure of speech is primarily established through the implicit comparison between the restricted child and a caged bird in the excerpt above?

  1. MetaphorAnswer
  2. B
    Simile
  3. C
    Paradox
  4. D
    Oxymoron

Answer

The primary figure of speech employed in the comparison is a metaphor.
The correct answer identifies the primary device as a metaphor because William Blake draws a direct, implicit equivalence between the natural confinement of a caged bird and the oppressive educational environment surrounding the child, omitting connective words such as 'like' or 'as'.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the lines to identify the relationship between the two subjects being compared.
The speaker contrasts the natural freedom of youth/birds with the captivity of formal schooling/cages.
Understanding the structural parallel helps determine whether the comparison is direct or indirect.
2
Examine the linguistic markers used to join the child and the bird.
The comparison is drawn implicitly through parallel rhetorical questions rather than using comparative words like 'like' or 'as'.
Absence of explicit comparative conjunctions distinguishes a metaphor from a simile.

Key Concept

Identifying figurative imagery and metaphorical comparisons in prescribed non-African poetry
Estimated Time:1m 0s
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Topics

Analysis of Prescribed Non-African Poems

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