Among School Children Summary & Analysis

Among School Children Summary & Analysis [WB Yeats]

Main Summary of Among School Children

In the poem Among School Children, the speaker visits a school and recollects his youth and reflects on his old age and changes in life. Soon he realizes even though old age changes everyone from the beauty and freshness of youth, life is a whole part of everyone and every moment has its own meanings, enjoyment and prizes. In summary, 'Among School Children' is about a visit made by the ageing Yeats to a convent school in Waterford, Ireland in February 1926. As a Senator, Yeats is visiting the school as a public figure, but the poem is a record of his private thoughts.

Analysis of the Poem Among School Children

The poem Among School Children has eight stanzas. In the analysis section, we have analysed each stanza separately.

Stanza - I

The speaker begins with his walk through the long schoolroom. He questions the teacher as he walks around the classroom, the teacher wearing a nice old white hood as her uniform is a nun. She answers all his questions. The children are learning math, they are learning to sing, read and study history books. They learn to cut and sew clothing and they do it all very neatly in the most up to date modern way. But as the speaker walks the children look in momentary astonishment because the speaker who walks around the classroom is a sixty-year-old politician.

Stanza - II

This part of the poem says about his dream about a woman (his lady love Maud Gonne) whose body is as beautiful as Leda (who was raped by Zeus in the form of a swam) who is a mythological character. He recollects his memories when this woman bent over a sinking fire and told a tale about a harsh scolding on her or a trivial event that would be ignored by an adult but these could fill a child’s day full of sorrow. All these made the speaker feel that two of them have become one due to understanding and the sympathy for each other and changing the story that Plato tells, it is like they become like yolk and white of a single shell. The speaker expresses his emotions over his memories.

Stanza - III

This part says about the speaker’s thinking of the woman’s story of grief or anger when she said in her childhood age. He looks upon one child or the other and wonders if the woman he thinks stood like these children when she was their age. Even the half god daughters of Leda and Zeus can share something of common traits like common peddlers just like swans who have the same similarities. The poet wonders now whether she had the same color in her cheek or hair as these children. His heart is driven wild and he is so excited, as one of these children bears the image of her.

Stanza - IV

Now the poet thinks about her present looks. Her present image floats in his mind. He wonders whether the Quattrocento, the Italian painter, crafted her face. (The cultural and artistic events of Italy during the period 1400 to 1499 are collectively referred to as the Quattrocento) even in her old age with hollow cheeks, she would look so pretty and mesmerizing, as she has drunk only the wind and consumed only the shadows. He thinks he was never of Ledaean kind with pretty plumage (feathers). He stops thinking as that is enough and tries to focus on the present situation. He smiles at the smiling children. Smiles are the doorway for tranquility. He wants to show them that he looks like an old scarecrow. He is a kind and comfortable person.

Stanza - V

The fifth part of the poem discusses the thoughts of the speaker. He imagines a young mother with her baby on her lap. This baby has drunk the “honey of generation” from its mother’s milk, a drug that will make the baby forget its own existence before it was born. The baby should sleep or cry out to refuse the drug. The poet’s agony is would such a mother think about her sixty years old son with gray hair (winters on his head) was worth the labor pain, or would she be happy to bring him up and send forth into the world.

Stanza - VI

The poet thought about Plato the great philosopher in this stanza. The philosopher thought that reality is like a froth of a wave but the truth of nature is beneath the wave which is the paradigm of things which is abstract and ideal. But the philosopher Aristotle proved that physical objects are more real. He, as a famous master to the great Alexander the Great, Aristotle would punish the king of kings with a leather strap which is soaked in taws. Then the world famous golden thighed (the man’s leg was literally made of metal) is Pythagoras believed that the stars in the sky create music while they move, which was heard by the Muses, goddesses of poetic inspiration. Pythagoras plays the same music upon a fiddlestick or musical instruments, but these musicians are not real music as they sound to scare a bird.

Stanza - VII

This stanza expresses the nuns and moms who worship the images they see. Nuns worship paintings of saints by candlelight whereas the mothers worship their children. But for nuns religious statues made of bronze or marble give a sort of detached feeling to them. Certain statues break the heart of the people as a kind of unknown presence in such art, which can be felt through religious piety or affection which is the beauty of heaven. They live, never die and they are created by themselves, they mock the lifestyle of humans which are full of changes and unbalanced. The poet’s feelings towards the interdependence of human activities can be seen in this stanza.

Stanza - VIII

The final stanza describes the beautiful things which are the works of people who bloom or dance with no bruises and to give happiness to the soul, beautiful things are created without suffering and to gain wisdom no need of non-stop work all through midnight. The poet asks the chestnut tree, the great rooted blossomed with beautiful flowers, are you the leaf, the blossom or the trunk? Again he asks “O body which dances to the music and which gives pleasure to the eyes, how will we separate the dancer from the dance?”

About The Writer of Among School Children

William Butler Yeats was an Irish poet, writer and one of the well-known figures of English Literature. He was born on 13th June 1865. He was brought up as a member of the Protestant dominance. He began his work when he was 17. Yeats published “John Sherman '' and “Dhoya '' He was considered a pillar of the Irish literary association. He had a great interest in spiritualism and astrology. He became a member of the paranormal research organization.

His significant work is “The Island of Statues' ' and “The Wanderings of Oisin' ' is in a lyrical form of Irish mythology. His earlier works of poems were meditations on the themes of love subjects. For example “Poems (1895) and “The Secret Rose (1897). He served as a Senator of the Irish State in 1922 and his language became very forceful. He retired from his position as senator in 1928 due to his ill health. When he was 69 he was recalled to life by the Steinach operation. The later part of his life was full of vigour. He and Indian born Shri Purohit Swami translated the Principal Upanishads from Sanskrit into English. And published in 1938. He died in Menton, France on 28th January 1939 at the age of 73.

Themes of the Poem Among School Children

Innocence and Experience

The poem starts with the visit of the speaker to a school. His experience in life gives him status and as a senator, he visits the school, where he could see the smiling children who make him contemplate life and the movement of life and the continual process of life with its changes and challenges. The innocent faces of the children make him recollect and realize the continuous process of life which never stops its life cycle. Dancing movements can’t be separated from the dancer as life can’t be separated from anyone for it is the beauty of existence.

The speaker is old when he visits the school, he tells how important the shifting of life from age to age is. One of the good things of old age is wisdom. Age and experiences give wisdom. When he stands among the innocent children he thinks about life and various philosophical views related to life. A complete contrast in the situation. He is experienced among the innocent children. He is a learned man with status with the innocent kids who learn to read and write.

The Reality of Age and Life

One of the important themes of the poem is ageing and decay are part of life and cannot be separated. Accepting the reality of life makes a person live fully. The images of the chestnut tree and its parts present the stages of life. Life undergoes various processes with time. One must have the courage to accept the reality of life to enjoy and embrace the changes and challenges of life.

Conclusion

“Among School Children '' is an allusive masterpiece that involves various mythological characters such as Leda, Swan and paddlers to bring out the message of the poet. It reflects the careful and scholarly construction of the poet. The poem is sprinkled with images such as the mothers and the nuns to reflect the realities of life. The poet’s recollection of the past brings out the present state of wisdom to accept the reality of the real beauty of life.

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