The Lamb - "Songs of Innocence and of Experience" Poem Summary
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One of William Blake’s most strongly religious poems, “The Lamb” is one of the most important in Blake’s volume, Songs of Innocence. The poem presents the innocence of the pastoral world as directly associated with Jesus Christ, the Christian manifestation of God. “The Lamb” has two stanzas, made up of five couplets each, typifying the AABB rhyme scheme of the poems in this collection. It also repeats several lines, creating an echo-effect.
In the first stanza, the speaker, identifying himself as a child, asks the “little lamb” a series of questions, beginning with the lines,
The Lamb
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
“Little Lamb who made thee
Dost thou know who made thee”
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The speaker also asks the lamb if it knows who provides it food to eat, or who gives it warm wool and a pleasant voice.
In the second stanza, the speaker answers the questions he himself has posed, beginning with the lines,
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“Little Lamb I'll tell thee
Little Lamb I'll tell thee!
Permission to copy this image, for my reporting po.
He is called by thy name
For he calls himself a Lamb”
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This question and answer structure creates a kind of lyric catechism in which the existence of both a young boy (the speaker) and a tender lamb stand as proof of a loving, compassionate Creator. The One who “calls himself a Lamb” of course refers to Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God. The repetition of the lines and simplicity of the rhyme create a singsong voice, a tone of childlike wonder.
The lamb stands in relation to the boy as the boy stands in relation to his elders; each must learn the truth of his existence by questioning the origin of his life and inferring a Creator who possesses the same characteristics as both the lamb and the child: gentleness, innocence, and loving kindness. The poem refers directly to Scripture in asserting that the lamb is “called by his name” and that the Lamb of God became “a little child.” The Christian God displays these characteristics in his design of the natural and human world as well as in His offer of salvation to all.
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