The Lamb

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For other uses, see The Lamb (disambiguation).

Blake's illustration of "The Lamb"

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"The Lamb " is a poem by William Blake, published in Songs of Innocence in 1789. Like many of Blake's works, the poem is about religion, specifically about Christianity.

1 Background
2 Poetic structure
3 Full text
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Background

It is said that the poem was intended to be set to music, which is why the words are so simple^{[citation needed]}. The Lamb was made into a song by Vaughan Williams. It was also set to music by Sir John Tavener, who explained, "The Lamb came to me fully grown and was written in an afternoon and dedicated to my nephew Simon for his 3rd birthday." American poet Allen Ginsberg set the poem to music, along with several other of Blake's poems. (See: http://writing.upenn.edu/pennsound/x/Ginsberg-Blake.html)

The Lamb can be compared to a more grandiose Blake poem: The Tyger in Songs of Experience. One interpretation is that The Lamb is a look at childish innocence, and that The Tyger refers to the devil who tries to tempt Jesus^{[citation needed]}.

The lamb in the poem may be compared to Jesus Christ, who is also known as "The Lamb of God"^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Poetic structure

This poem has a simple rhyme scheme : AA BB CC DD AA AA EF DD FE AA

The layout is set up by two stanzas with the refrain: "Little Lamb who made thee?/Dost thou know who made thee?"

In the first stanza, the poet wonders who's the lamb's creator; the answer lies at the end of the poem. Here we find a physical description of the lamb, seen as a pure and gentle creature.

In the second stanza, the lamb is compared and the infant Jesus^{[citation needed]}, as well as between the lamb and the poet's soul^{[citation needed]}. In the last two lines Blake identifies the creator: God^{[citation needed]}.

[edit] Full text

Little Lamb who made thee?
Dost 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?
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 and he is mild;
He became a little child.
I a child and thou a lamb,
We are called by his name.
Little Lamb God bless thee.
Little Lamb God bless thee.