THE LAMB By William Blake

 

“The Lamb” is a didactic poem by English visionary William Blake, published in his 1789 collection Songs of Innocence. The poem represents the lamb an expression of God's will and the beauty of God's creation. The speaker of the poem is a child, who shows an intuitive understanding of the nature of joy and, indeed, the joy of nature. In the figure of the lamb, the poem sees a symbol for all of God’s works. The poem is a kind of hymn to God, praising God's creation while also implying that humankind has lost the ability to appreciate god’s mastery in creation.

 

The Lamb

BY WILLIAM BLAKE

Little Lamb who made thee 

         Dost thou know who made thee 

Gave thee life & bid thee feed. 

By the stream & o'er the mead;

Gave thee clothing of delight,

Softest clothing wooly bright;

Gave thee such a tender voice,

Making all the vales rejoice! 

         Little Lamb who made thee 

         Dost thou know who made thee 

 

   The poem begins with the innocent question of a child, who directly addresses a lamb, asking it if it knows who created it, who gave it life and told it to eat. The lamb is described in its pastoral setting, playing beside streams and running over the meadows. Who gave the lamb pleasing clothing of soft white wool? Who gave the lamb gentle voice that makes the surrounding valleys glad? The speaker then asks again: Who made the lamb?

 

   

         Little Lamb I'll tell thee,

         Little Lamb I'll tell thee!

He is called by thy name,

For he calls himself a Lamb: 

He is meek & he is mild, 

He became a little child: 

I a child & thou a lamb, 

We are called by his name.

         Little Lamb God bless thee. 

         Little Lamb God bless thee.

 

In the second stanza, the speaker himself offers the answers to the questions he has asked. The creator or god is called by the same name as the lamb because he calls himself a "Lamb." He is one who resembles both the child and the lamb, in his gentleness. The speaker is a child, Both the speaker and the lamb share the name of their creator.  The poem ends with the child bestowing a blessing on the lamb.

 

Explanation

 

“The Lamb” is a religious poem that marvels at the wonders of God’s creation. In the poem, a child who directly addresses a lamb, asking it if it knows who created it, who gave it life and told it to eat. The lamb is described in its pastoral setting, playing beside streams and running over the meadows. Who gave the lamb pleasing clothing of soft white wool? Who gave the lamb gentle voice that makes the surrounding valleys glad? The speaker then asks again: Who made the lamb?

In the meek and gentle figure of the lamb, the speaker sees great evidence of God’s work. Lamb is the expression of God. Through the example of the lamb, the speaker suggests that the entire world is in fact an expression of God.

The poem is addressed directly to the lamb. Though the lamb cannot respond to the questions posed, its very existence is answer enough to the question of “who made” it. The speaker is clearly awed by the lamb.  It is small, fragile, and innocent. By existing, it proves the delicate beauty of God’s creation, which is why it makes the speaker so joyful.

The poem rhetorically asks, “who made thee?” but rest of the poem presents the evidence that God is the maker. The first stanza presents the lamb in its natural habitat, a beautiful pastoral scene in which the lamb is free to run around. All that the lamb needs are provided for it, making the lamb a symbol of freedom and joy. This is God’s intention for all His creatures: that they live happy and joyful lives.

As the first stanza asks the question about the lamb’s existence, the second gives the clear reply. Here, the poem picks up on the symbolism of the lamb. In John 1:29 in the Bible, Jesus Christ is given the title “Lamb of God.” So, Blake here alludes to the Bible, saying that God calls himself a lamb-that the lamb is God, just as the Bible describes Jesus himself to be God. Both the lamb and the speaker, who is a child, are “called by his name.” The poem thus expresses deep trust and faith in God’s work, suggesting that both the child and the lamb are safe in God’s hands. And to emphasize this sense of blissful comfort, the poem ends with the speaker blessing the lamb. By extension, the poem thus blesses all of God’s creation, both praising it and expressing thanks for its existence.

 Form

“The Lamb” is a didactic poem having two stanzas, each containing five rhymed couplets. Repetition in the first and last couplet of each stanza makes these lines into a refrain, and helps to give the poem its song-like quality. The flowing l’s and soft vowel sounds contribute to this effect, and also suggest the bleating of a lamb or the lisping character of a child’s chant.

Alliteration: Blake uses alliteration in the following line: “He is meek & he is mild”.

Irony: The speaker reveals himself as a child but is ironically wise and eloquent.

 Allusion: An allusion is a brief reference to a person, place, thing, event, or other literary work with which the reader is presumably familiar.

Blake alludes to the traditional biblical depiction of Jesus as a Lamb. The lamb symbolizes Jesus. The traditional image of Jesus as a lamb emphasizes the Christian values of gentleness, meekness, and peace. The image of the child is also associated with Jesus. The Lamb can be seen as a metaphor for Jesus, to emphasize his qualities of meekness and innocence: "For he calls himself a Lamb."

Hyperbole: The speaker says that the voice of the lamb makes all the vales rejoice.

Enjambment: In poetry, enjambment describes a clause or a sentence that continues from one line to the next without a pause and without punctuation.

Little Lamb who made thee 

            Dost thou know who made thee 

Imagery is used to make the readers perceive things with their five senses. The poet has used images such as, “Softest clothing wooly bright”, “He became a little child:” and “By the stream & o’er the mead.”