"The Lamb" by William Blake Analysis

Analysis of The Lamb by William Blake
Austin Bond
"Little lamb, who made thee? Does thou know who made thee,
Gave thee life, and bid thee feed
By the stream and o’er the mead;
Gave thee clothing of delight,
Softest clothing, woolly, bright;
Gave thee such a tender voice,
Making all the vales rejoice? Little lamb, who made thee? Does thou know who made thee?

Little lamb, I’ll tell thee; Little lamb, I’ll tell thee:
He is callèd by thy name,
For He calls Himself a Lamb.
He is meek, and He is mild,
He became a little child.
I a child, and thou a lamb,
We are callèd by His name. Little lamb, God bless thee! Little lamb, God bless thee!"

William Blake’s poem The Lamb uses the tone and structure of a children’s song to pose fundamental questions of humanity, and to make a statement on the nature of faith. Part of his collection Songs of Innocence, the poem has the lamb be a symbol for Jesus Christ (also known as the Lamb of God), and by extension the traditional Christian values of innocence and peace.

Creationism is a recurring theme in Blake’s art and it is clear, through his poetry and paintings, that Blake was both fascinated and haunted by the concept of a divine creator. While The Lamb is about a real physical lamb on the surface, the subtext of the poem is clearly rooted in Christian faith, for the lamb is representative of Jesus Christ; the physical incarnation of the deity. However, unlike other Blake poems and paintings, the poem is blunt and simple in its affectations.

Blake uses constant repetition, assonance and consonance to emphasise his fascination with the creator, with the question “Who made thee?” repeated throughout the poem. The simple rhyming scheme and repetition of soft vowel sounds further give the poem a simplistic structure to match its simplicity of meaning.

The poem is in the form of a