SEMESTER 3

DISCIPLINE SPECIFIC CORE

COURSE -7 (DSC-7) –: ROMANTIC
LITERATURE

WILLIAM BLAKE: SONGS OF

INNOCENCE
AND EXPERIENCE: (I) ‘LAMB’
 ABOUT THE POET

Had visions from an early age and believed

he was in contact with the spiritual world.
Work was often misunderstood and
criticized in his own time.
Blake is now considered a seminal
figure in the history of the poetry and
visual art of the Romantic Age.
One of his most famous works is a book
called Songs of Innocence and
Experience.
FAMOUS POEMS- ‘London’, ‘The Sick Rose’, ‘A
Poison Tree’, ‘The Tyger’, ‘The Lamb’, ‘The Garden of
Love’ etc
The Lamb Poem Summary and Analysis

In Short
 In William Blake’s poem “The Lamb”
a child-speaker asks a lamb if it
knows its creator, who gave it life
and gifts like its woolly clothing and
tender voice.
 The speaker himself then answers
that Christ is its creator. The creator is also
called a Lamb and shares the same values of
gentleness and innocence
with the lamb and the
child.
 The speaker then
prays that the God
blesses the lamb.
The Lamb – Explanation
Stanza – 1
Lines 1 – 4
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;
EXPLANATION
 One of the simplest poems of William Blake,
“The Lamb” starts with a very simple question.
The speaker asks the little lamb if it knows its
creator. The question is repeated in the second
line to create a poetic effect. The words “dost
thou know” implies that the speaker probably knows the answer.
 In the third and fourth lines the speaker elaborates his
question. He asks the lamb if it knows the identity of the
creator who blessed it with life and gave him the capacity and
appetite to feed grazing by the side of the stream and running
over the meadows.
 The poem, thus, begins with a child-like
directness and natural world that show none of
the signs of the grown-ups. Such kind of
innocent questioning makes us think that the
speaker might be a child.
Lines 5 – 10
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?
. EXPLANATION
 The speaker now asks the lamb whether it
knows who has given it the soft and bright wool as
a clothing. The lamb has not got ordinary clothes.
The speaker calls the wool “clothing of delight”. It
is very much thick which covers its body and
prevents it from excessive heat and cold.
 The creator also gives the lamb a ‘tender voice’. It is so gentle
and charming that it fills the valley with
joy. It is another unique gift from its
creator. The speaker praises the power of
the creator who can give such amazing
clothes and charming voice to the lamb.
 The speaker again repeats his first
questions at the end of the first stanza.
This adds to the poem’s rhythm as well as to the feeling of
innocence.
Stanza – 2
Lines 11 – 16
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.
EXPLANATION
 So, the speaker doesn’t wait for the lamb’s answers.
Rather he promises to answers his own questions.
He’ll tell the lamb who its creator is.

 Now the speaker says (in line 13) that the creator of
the lamb is called by the name of the lamb itself.
Indeed, He calls Himself a ‘Lamb’. The creator is
also gentle and kind. He once was a little child.

 It seems that the speaker is talking in riddles. He doesn’t

answer it directly. Well, let me tell you that in the Bible, Jesus
Christ is called “The Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of
the world”. Lambs get sacrificed, so Christ’s sacrifice was
comparable to the lambs’. But here, Blake compares Jesus to
the lamb for His gentle nature (‘meek’ and ‘mild’). The image of
 Jesus as a lamb underscores the Christian values of gentleness
and peace.

 Again, Christ was a child when he

first appeared on the earth as the son
of God. He became a child for the sake
of mankind. He possesses the naive
simplicity and pristine innocence of a
child. Thus, the speaker not only informs
the lamb who its creator is, but also highlights His
characteristics of goodness and purity.

Lines 17 – 20
I a child, and thou a lamb,
We are called by His name.
Little lamb, God bless thee!
Little lamb, God bless thee!
EXPLANATION
 Well, we were right with our assumptions
in the first stanza. The speaker, indeed,
is a child. He says that the lamb and the
child, both are identifiable with the God
Himself for their innocence and simplicity.
So, the lamb, the child himself and the
God are all one in respect of the qualities
they possess and share with each other.
 The child, in the end, with all his earnestness and sincerity
prays for God’s blessings upon the lamb. And the God has
already blessed it with heavenly gifts.

The Lamb Poem THEMES

 God and Creation
In the first stanza of the poem, the lamb is shown as blessed
by the God with its life and other unique gifts like its voice,
its woolly clothing and its capacity to feed and graze. The
child-speaker asks the lamb if it knows who created it. This
very question right at the beginning of the poem sets the
theme of creation. Moreover, the description of nature with
the stream, the meadows, and the valley filled with the
lamb’s pleasant voice – all create a wonderful atmosphere
instilling an awe for the God’s amazing creation. Thus, God’s
power of creation is highlighted as a theme in the first half
of the poem.

 Childhood and Innocence

The speaker of the poem “The Lamb” is a child. He shows
his deep joy in the company of the lamb who is just like
him meek and mild. Even on its surface level, the poem
conveys the very spirit of childhood, the purity, the
innocence, the tenderness, as well as the affection that a
child feels for little creatures like the lamb.

There are overtones of Christian symbolism too,

suggested by Christ as a child. The lamb and the child
share the same purity and innocence as the God Himself
and are identified as Christ. The pastoral setting is also
another symbol of innocence and joy.