The poem “The Tables Turned” was written by William Wordsworth in 1798. The main theme of the poem is to prove the wisdom and grace of nature. “Up! up! my Friend, and quit your books;” This is the first sentence in the poem. William Wordsworth tried to get a message through his poem, showing that life is way more than just science, art and books. He describes the nature as something pretty and peaceful, and that the nature should be enjoyed. “Books! ’tis a dull and endless strife: Come, hear the woodland linnet” Wordsworth believes that if people would spend more time in the nature and stop overanalyzing everything, they would end up being natural geniuses by letting nature be their own teacher and think with their heart.

The poem “The Schoolboy” was written by William Blake in 1794. “I love to rise in a summer morn, When the birds sing on avert tree.” We hear about a boy, who loves nature, and if he could decide by himself, he would prefer to spend the summer outside and play with his friends before the winter arrives. But the boy get a unhappy felling in his stomach, when he thinks about school, he hates going to school, “But to go to school in a summer morn, O! it drives all joy away”. He finds no happiness in reading books, because he is scared to forget his youthfulness. He compares himself with a bird in a cage.

Both poem’s themes are the same, just told differently. “The Tabels Turned” and “The Schoolboy” both try to come through with the message that, we do not only learn by reading books, we have to spend time outside and explore the nature, and find out who we really are. The only difference between the two poems are the two expressions. In “The Tables Turned” there is more focus on letting nature learn about life, where as “The Schoolboy” has more focus on learning by doing things, we love.