"I love to rise in a summer morn, When the birds sing on every tree; The distant huntsman winds his horn, And the skylark sings with me: O what sweet company!" The Schoolboy is a short poem by William Blake that was originally published in 1794 within Songs of Innocence and of Experience (1794). Blake previously wrote Songs of Innocence in 1789 as a contrary to the Songs of Experience, and later published them both together in juxtaposition. It is one of only so many poems in Experience that does not have an opposing poem in Innocence. William Blake (1757-1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognized during his lifetime, Blake's work is today considered seminal and significant in the history of both poetry and the visual arts.