Winifred Welles’s “School” catches a boy whose real life happens when his attention drifts. Seated by a window, he ignores the “muddy trudgings” of schoolwork and watches sunlight, clouds, shadows, and birds, all of which seem more alive and affectionate than his lessons. When he is moved to the middle of the room, the world turns dull and gloomy—until a girl with sunset-colored hair sits nearby. Her presence reignites his imagination, and he abandons his Greek to picture the burning towers of Troy.
The speaker’s tone is warm, wistful, and gently amused, clearly siding with the dreamer. The mood shifts from playful distraction to brief gloom, then to a final, vivid imaginative release.