Among School Children by William Butler Yeats has once been prescribed
as one of the poems in Literature in English Programme.
Imagine, those 17 year old kids have to study this poem for their SPM examination.
I'm sure as you are older and more experience than those kids,
you would have better insights into this poem.
Please write here in this space your thoughts on Among School Children.
Goh Swee Lan 157842
ReplyDeleteAmong The School Children is talking about an old man who walks in school corridors and saw the school children. Thinking back all his memory while he is still a school children.
The long way of corridor can also be described as the journey of life. The poet is describing how life actually changing from a baby to an old man.
The poet imagining how a mother will forget all the pain when she gave birth to her child if she saw how the child grown up and stay healthy until their old age.
This poem is actually written in the point of view of an old man where he is having a flash back to his past, all the things that he went through before death embraces him.
Among School Chlldren is bascically revolving around the persona's past as a school-going kid. The sight of seeing school children happily moving around makes him remember his past life. The corridor here has some significance in the poet's life. The path of the corridor is long and it depicts the life journey of the poet; from being young until the present old age. He has gone through many obstacles in life. Just so as he know his life on Earth is getting shorter, and he is cherishing his past together with all the memories of yesteryears he has lived in.
ReplyDeleteAmong school children tells a story about the poet walking through the corridor of a school, he saw the school children and then he remember when he was young and his life as a school children when he was small.The walk on the school corridor symbolize his life journey from when he was born until he become old.All the obstacles that he's been going through on his stages of life suddenly appears as a flashback when he walks on the corridor.Life is a journey that will keep on going from the day that we been born until it's end on the day we die.That are what the poet trying to tells from this poem by my point of view.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteFaiq Hamzan 156887
ReplyDeleteThis poem tells us about the poet flashbacks about his school years that already passed after walking along the corridor and saw the school children.
The school corridor symbolize as the poet journey of life from he was born until he had grown old. The corridor seems to be connected with the obstacles that happened in his life. The poet writes this poem to cherish all the moments in his life before death meets him.
Siew Woon Teng - 159262
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, the starting lines of the poem gives us the image of a school and what these kids do in school at that time. And then the persona talks about his dreaming "of a Ledaean body". The persona continues, with her retelling an event that happened in school of how the day changes; "that changed some childish day to tragedy". While they are sharing stories, they share a lot of things. He wonders as he looks at the children of her being at that age. Then he expresses his love for her. Through the imageries of her beauty he portrays how he is attracted to her.: "and had that colour upon cheek and hair, and thereupon my heart is driven wild". But her beauty doesn't last. She is thin and has "hollow of cheek as though it drank the wind". The speaker expresses his contentment of being comfortable around her now, though she is compared to a scarecrow and she "had pretty plumage once".
The speaker relates "both nuns and mothers worship images" of how both of these types of women adore images but the mothers' images are their children and how a mothers' precious thing is their children.
The speaker ends it with questions. We can see the woman whom he loves is related to the obvious type of innoncence of the child.
Boheshwari (158654)
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion I think that this poem is basically about an old man going to a school and looking at the young kids there and it reminds him about the time when he was young and also remind him about his school time lover. This makes him somehow depressed. He wishes to preserve and freeze his youthful times. The children in the class are linked with innocence and also to the persona’s lover. The young girls in the class reminded him to the girl, thinking of how much he was in love with her at that time. The persona is telling that looking forward is the only way of life. He also talked about what mothers will think when they see their son and daughter at a very old age. I think that the poem had basically so many things revolving around it. It was like the writer was trying to cover a lot of different issues in a poem. however, one of the issues that I like which is said in the poem that is time is inevitable and it stops for nobody.
I think that it is good that it has been taken out from the SPM literature component. Even as Tesl students, me and my friends had a hard time understanding this poem. Added with the Greek mythology and all, it will only be even harder for the students to understand if they do not have a basic understanding in it.
Nancy Nesha 157467
ReplyDeleteAmong the school children can be understood well if we indentify the images or can be say the main image of the poem that is an 60-year old man which can be the poet. The poem started as a story or situation where the poet is walking through a classroom. So the readers can know where is the poem now and what type of situation is the poem placed in by the poet.
There are a lot of images came into the poem. For example the nun where he has imaginations or flashbacks about her where it could be related to his past experiences. Second stanza” I dream of a Ledaean body, bent” “Above a sinking fire, a tale that she” , “Told of a harsh reproof, or trivial event are giving the descriptions of the imaginations he imagined about the nun.
The whole poem is as though a comparison between the experiences the sixty year old man had when he was young in school and now where he is standing in front the school children.
It can be say the poem is a view from the poet when he is old towards the new current world.
And thinking of that fit of grief or rage
I look upon one child or t'other there
And wonder if she stood so at that age –
The main image the poet is talking about is the nun but then the nun is just the source of his imagination , the truth is still unclear here in this poem of who is the real person that resembles the nun in the poet imagination.
Here in this stanza ( stanza 3) the poem is converted to childhood days where a tragedy had happened.
The poem followed by stanza 4 where he stared comparing the main person that is the nun to ancient histories figure. For example , “Did Quattrocento finger fashion it” Quattrocento" is a reference to the Renaissance painters of the 1400s.
In the sixth stanza he is kind of mocking the works of plato, Aristotle, and Pythagoras. He is disagreeing with the work done by them.
Overall, I felt each stanza has different stories where all connected to one main branch that is the nun.
He included greek ancient figures, his childhood memory , his stand where he felt he is like a scarecrow and all these blend together in this poem .
So in my point of view I found it will be quite difficult for the students to understand the insights of this poem where they should not only know the basic ideas portraits in the poem but also the history points used.
The poem should be read frequently as a whole because each stanza varies and students can identify the differences each stanza having if they read it as a whole. It gives the main picture of the poem and somehow it will give them an idea of how to analysis the poem.
Nur Atiqah binti Nordin
ReplyDelete(156627)
This poem is basically about a man who go back to a place where he used to be a part of it. So, all the incidents there somehow related to his past life.
The school children here represents symbol of innocence and purity,
They go to school to learn and gain knowledge. The school also makes him realize and remember about his past lover.
Neerosha A/P Vinodhan
ReplyDelete158348
This poem to me talks about an old man reliving his memory of his younger years and his memory of his lover at a young age. Looking at the children in school is an imagery of innocence and youthfulness which could be something the persona was hoping to have still been able to hold on to. In a way, through this poem, there seems to be a sense of regret or wonder of what life would have been like if he could still hold on to his youth as well as the youthfulness of his lover. The persona also speaks about the feelings of a parent when they see their children aging.
This poem is very deep and insightful where plenty of reading and understanding of concepts in poetry is needed in order to understand this poem. In my opinion, this poem truly isn't suitable for students of SPM level as understanding it is not so simple especially since the concept of history is included in this poem with names like Plato, Aristole and Pythagoras.
Based on my understanding ,the Among School Children poem is about the comparison between the innocent school children and herself(a lady that the persona is referring to), it is sharply evident to the speaker how she has grown old and aged.It is quite obvious that the lady the persona referring is prefer to be a school teacher rather than a revolutionary(politician). In the first stanza the lady who was an old politician was asking questions and the nun replies by saying that they learn to read and to sing in the school. They also learn about history, sewing to suits the new modern era. The children stare at the lady. Here the “Public man” in the stanza refers to the job as a “Politician”.Ledaean on the 9th line refers to the body that bent over of fire.The persona dreams about the Ledaean tragedy,which is a terrible incident. She compares that to the conversation of the day between a school children and herself that can also turn into tragedy. Together, over the Ledaean story, they share a great deal. Looking at the children, he wonders what she was like at their age. He sees her as a child and is mad with love. Her current image comes to mind. She once was pretty in her young age but she is now comfortable and old.The speaker wonder did his mother, know that seeing this woman would be enough compensation for her child’s birth(the persona birth).In the 3rd stanza the persona speaks about Plato who thought nature to be imperfect; Aristotle that think about the nature of things, as did Pythagoras...but these are all merely subjects for childrens to learn in the persona perspective. Nuns and mothers adore images, but for mothers’ the images is portraits by their children. The final stanza is a philosophical riddle concerning whether man acts or is acted upon, and serves as a connection to ' uncertainty as to whether he loves or was destined to be in love.
ReplyDeleteKrishnananthini - 158283
ReplyDeleteHi madam Ju :)
First Stanza: Yeats perceives himself as the “sixty-year-old smiling public man". He wants to know if his education was similar to the children, who learn in the “best modern way”. Understanding what knowledge is helpful in life, he walks “through the long schoolroom questioning” whether the lessons they are being taught are really relevant to life.
Second Stanza: Envisioning what these innocent children will someday have to realize, Yeats imagines the rape of Leda by Zeus, turning a “childish day to tragedy.” Leda’s body “bent/ Above a sinking fire” is symbolic of her diminishing youthful spirit; Leda purity of her youth through one “trivial event." It shows a parallel connection of Leda’s, and the children’s, transition from innocence to knowledge.
Third stanza: After envisioning the two of them together, youthful again, Yeats searches through the children, wondering if he can see a little of Gonne in any child. He said, “Wonder if she stood so at that age.” He then describes Gonne’s swan-like beauty. Slipping deeper into his imagination, Yeats passionately portrays Gonne, until “she stands before me as a living child.”. Tragically, Yeats knows that this perfection will eventually be corrupted.
Fourth stanza: Understanding that his portrayal is not reality today, “her present image floats into the mind.” Still, in her growing age, he compares Gonne’s cheeks to the wind. The wind image takes on a double meaning. The brevity of the wind also symbolizes the brevity of life. Wanting to hide his sudden realization of mortality, Yeats assumes a pleasant demeanor, able “to smile on all that smile.”
Fifth stanza: He envisions himself, having the child be at least sixty.Yeats is asking—what is the real value in life. After all, the child is said to have lived sixty winters, not sixty years. This gloomy winter image further suggests that life is but suffering, and to live is to suffer. The mother’s uncertainty about the child’s future is shown.
Sixth stanza: Desiring to somehow avoid ageing and death, Yeats looks to the great men of the past for answers. He investigates Plato’s Cave Allegory, shows the idiocy of Aristotle’s work with Alexander the Great and the ridiculousness of Pythagoras’s work. Yeats discovers that these men were nothing more than “old clothes upon old sticks to scare a bird.” This minimization of achievement makes Yeats realize that although these men are world-renowned, they too grew old and died. As a result, Yeats comes to the desperate realization that although man can produce lasting works, they themselves can never be lasting.
Seventh stanza: This stanza deals largely with the issue of love and expectation. There are two distinct different types of love—a motherly love, an earthly, and a religious love, like the nun’s love. In their respective ways, these two figures have an object of worship. But, like the nun’s eventual disappointment with God and the mother’s eventual disappointment with her child, overly high expectations bring nothing but discontent.
Final stanza: Yeats recognizes that although people are the sum of their separate deeds, life is an amalgamation of actions. Instead of viewing life in parts, like “the leaf, the blossom, or the bole,” Yeats argues for one, united view of life. Like one’s inability to separate the “dancer from the dance”, one cannot separate life from death. These two parts are not independent. Instead, they are one in the same. No one has life, without death. So, one should not view them independently.
tq.
Viloshini a/p Murugesan (158240)
ReplyDeleteHello,
This poem is basically about “sixty-year-old smiling public man". He wants to know if his education was similar to the children, who learn in the “best modern way”. Gaining knowledge is helpful for life, he walks “through the long schoolroom questioning” whether the lessons they are being taught is really useful for life.
In my opinion, I think that it is actually a poem about an old man going to a school which used to be major part of his life when he was young. When he saw the children that remind him about the time when he was young and also reminds him about his school time lover. He wishes he could stay as a youth always. The persona is telling that life is a process of growing from a baby to an old man. He also talked about what mothers will feel when they see their children at old age.
TQ.... :)
Nur Aimidayana Mohamad (158842)
ReplyDeletehye
This poem actually about comparing different kinds of generation. The persona comparing his life with the new generation through school for example, what they have learn from school: sewing, history and how to be neat in 'modern way'.
From my point of view, the persona is actually walking down through the memory lane. “I walk through the long schoolroom questioning;” meaning that the persona could probably recall of his childhood memories. The persona clearly perceived himself as the 60 years old man who is smiling to the public. He saw the children with the nun. He wonder if the children education is similar to him even thought they learn in the best modern way compared to him.
ReplyDelete“I look upon one child or t'other there” probably saying that he had look upon a child and his heart is sore because they in front of him stand a child who have all the youthfulness that he was once had. He envy that girl because compare to him the girl was alive while he is growing old.
From the poem, we could see that the persona is unable to accept the reality where his youth is slipping away but somehow, somewhere in the poem, the persona found out about his mortality and there’s no way he could avoid it. Wanting to hide his sudden realization of mortality, Yeats assumes a pleasant demeanour, able “to smile on that entire smile.” This façade is a metaphoric mask of an “old scarecrow," allowing the persona to conceal his true, frantic feelings.
The persona come to term in accepting the truth. How can we know the dancer from the dance? The persona thought of the concept how to separate the dancer from the dance would go hand in hand just like the concept of life would definitely come with death in which the persona finally realized that he could not escape death.
For me, the poem Among School Children required a lot deeper understanding. It is really hard for the secondary students to interpret and understand the poem especially with the Greek terminology such as Aristotle, Leda or Plato. Students need the teacher guidance to understand the poem better and probably the teacher must also apply the knowledge of the world to the students first so they can a clearer view of the poem.
Rosanne Voon (156778)
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, WB Yeats talks about contrasts of Life and art in the poem 'Among School Children'. I feel that it talks about how life and things around are inseparable and of the connectedness of life. Life art and people are interdependent. It is summed up in the last line of the poem that says "o body swayed to music, o brightening glance, how can we know the dancer from the dance?"
Abyan 'Aisyah Azami (158366)
ReplyDeleteHi Madam Ju! Happy Saturday! :D
The poem 'Among School Children' is about a man (the poet) walking through a classroom in a school. He sees school children and he remembers the days when he was younger. He also finds similarities in the school children to his lover, when she was younger. The readers can assume that his lover is now nearing her old age. The line 'And had that colour upon cheek or hair, And thereupon my heart is driven wild: She stands before me as a living child' means how he remembers the things that made him fell in love with his lover, and he sees how she was as young and innocent as a child.
I honestly can't imagine if I have to study this poem for SPM. Even being in TESL is still difficult to understand this poem. It takes a lot of time and knowledge to understand this poem.
Thank you :)
Rouhollah Mahmoudnia, 159830
ReplyDeleteThis poem is actually narrating the jpurney of life from a young age to the old period of life. Infact, by passing by the school corrifors, he remembers all those old memories as a fresh student at school. The corridor is symblozing the route of a person’s life which is flashed back from this old man point of view.
The memory of “nun” as used to show the imagery of a motherhood passion is also significant in the story of the poem. Overall, he remembers the past a s a sweet and burned finished event.
Basically ,this poem about the persona is actually walking down through the memory lane. The speaker paces around a classroom, looking at the schoolchildren.. He wants to know if his education was similar to the children, who learn in the “best modern way.” Understanding what knowledge is helpful in life, he walks “through the long schoolroom questioning” whether the lessons they are being taught are really relevant to life.
ReplyDeletehai Madam Ju... =))
ReplyDeleteBased on the poem Among School Children by William Butler Yeats this poem is basically about associating two different generations particularly in the education system. Basically its about a school life of an old man. This poem also indicates that he wishes to be young and tells about the life process of growing up.