Question

Stanza wise summary of the poem A Boy's Song by James Hogg

Answer 1

However, I would argue that it would be wrong to assume this poem is simply about childhood and innocent reminiscence on past experiences relating to nature, and I think the repeated line, “That’s the way for Billy and me” also serves as the first piece of evidence to support this theory. There are two parts of this line I would like to magnify. Firstly, “That’s” is written in present tense, explicitly informing us that the speaker is still a child and is not looking back to the past. However, the formal syntax order of “Billy and me” is one of many examples in which the language of the speaker seems to be beyond his (apparently) limited years. This really throws open the poem to unlimited ambiguity, as we cannot now be sure of the speaker’s age, identity or attitude.

This is not the only evidence against the apparent innocence of the speaker and poetic theme in A Boy’s Song. Notice the structure of the first four quatrains in particular: Hogg devotes the first two lines to description of surroundings (using the refrain, “Where the… in both lines”). Now I don’t believe in consequences in poetry, and there appears to be some juxtaposition between the two lines each time. Take a look at the observations in the first two lines of each of the first four quatrains: “pools… bright and deep” vs. “grey trout”, “blackbird” vs. “hawthorn blooms”, “mowers mow” vs. “hay” and “hazel bank” vs. “shadow”. Every time, there is a dark, depressing image followed by a bright, lively image, or vice versa. Why? Hogg is suggesting that perhaps his view is not all sunshine and daisies, and the story is not what it first seems.

I think rather than speak more about the juxtaposition of the speaker’s observations, it would be more fruitful for the purposes of building evidence for my theory to have a closer look at stanza five:

Why the boys should drive away 

Little sweet maidens from the play, 

Or love to banter and fight so well, 

That’s the thing I never could tell.

This, for me, is proof that the poem is far more than what it claims to be on the surface. A rhyme about the innocence of youth does not include a debate on gender roles and stereotypes. I think this poem is an early expression of homosexuality or at least homosocial desires, beautiful for its calculating veiling in childhood innocence to convey the wholesome potential of homosexual love, poisoned only by prejudicial societies. In light of this new theory, we begin to find further evidential signs: perhaps the juxtaposing observations are a binary presentation of dark reality against what the speaker hopes to see for “Billy and me”. Taking my idea further, one can find homosexual innuendo scattered throughout the poem, from where “clustering nuts fall free” to the “boys… [who] fight so well”. Our minds are repeatedly drawn towards the idea of homosexual desire. Then, we have the refrain of the relative interrogative “Where…”.

Answer 2

The summary of the poem A boy's song is as follows.

A boy's song

• The principal verse of the sonnet is about the things which fulfil the student. He, similar to the birds, loves to ascend in the first part of the day and partake in the exercises which occur around then. The morning time is the hour of trust and desire. Consequently, people, as well as, creatures awaken chasing an objective.
• The subsequent verse depicts the student's anxiety over the manner in which school work. The youngsters are held under severe reconnaissance and are compelled to submit to the guidelines which may their lives dismal.
• The student here depicts how he goes through his day at school. As per him he frequently sits and invests a great deal of energy in weariness. He tracks down no euphoria or joy in books.
• In the fifth verse, he is in discussion with his folks. That's what he says on the off chance that like a bloom's buds, the kid's opportunity is grabbed away and its blossoms (for example happiness) blown away and if recently developed twigs (here implies recently procured bliss by the kid) are taken out at the hour of spring (for example at the point when the youngster has fired growing up) he, similar to the blossoming plant, will be left in distress and disappointment.
• In the last verse according to the artist how summer can be happy when the buds of blossoms are cut, the bloom discarded and the twigs eliminated away.

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