The Lamb- William Blake- Poem Summary

Poem Introduction:

The poem The Lamb is one of the poems by William Blake which was published in 1789 in his collection Songs of Innocence. It is a spiritual poem where the poet relates the lamb and humankind with Jesus Christ (In the Holy Bible Jesus was titled ‘Lamb of God’ in John 1:29). A lot of critics have assumed that this a contradictory poem of The Tyger. The poet tries to reveal the innocence of the lamb and praise the creation of God.

Poem:

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

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.

The Lamb Poem Summary:

The poet questions the lamb about its creator. To maintain the rhythm of the poem he asks it twice. He then asks a series of questions which ends up answering the creator such as, who gave life to it? Who fed it? Who decided its lifestyle to be near a stream and mead? Who gave it the best clothing ever? (Soft, cozy, bright white wool) Who gave such a tender voice that has the ability to rejoice all over the valley? He then repeats the same as first to keep up the rhythm.

Here, the poet volunteers to answer the questions he imposed earlier. He creates suspense by describing him and his qualities rather than deliberately naming him. He says it is he who is named Lamb and he who also calls himself Lamb. He then depicts his qualities such as humbleness and mildness. The creator also became a child i.e. a human says the poet and then he relates himself and the lamb with the creator. He, the poet is a human and the lamb is the symbol of innocence and both are addressed the same way he is. He is Jesus.

~ Literpretation Team for Education