William Blake’s, “The Lamb,” exalts the goodness of the creator and finds within the creator a source of kindness, humanity, and love. Blake starts off by asking who made the little lamb? He then asks who gave it life and food, and wooly bright clothing along with a soft voice. The maker of the Lamb is then questioned again. The author then tells the reader who made the little Lamb. He says that the creator has the same name, Lamb, and he is gentle and kind. He was once a little child and people are called by his name. He then blesses God for the little Lamb.
The idea of a kind creator is expressed by the alliance of the creator with the gentlest creation of the lamb. There are several pairs of consecutive rhyming lines, and they each have four lines that don’t totally rhyme giving an “aa bb cc dd ee ff gh ii jk ll” rhyme scheme. Since, most of the time punctuation of a poem will determine its pace caesuras and end-stopped are used in the lines to vary the pace of a poem and to alleviate the “sing-song” effect of poems that use of end-rhyme. The technique, therefore, reinforces the feeling that the poem is trying to communicate.
Blake”s spelling, which seems odd, traditional, or old-fashioned, also gives a childlike diction and repetition in this poem, and an almost incantatory effect if the poem is read aloud. “The Lamb” has two stanzas, each containing five rhymed couplets. Repetition in the first and last couplet of each stanza this helps gives the poem its song-like quality. This simple structure clues the readers that the lamb is simply a representation of a child, or the innocence of childhood; “Little Lamb, who make thee? / Dost thou know who make thee? ” Line 9-10.
The simple structure of his poem also tells the readers that Blake’s target for an audience must have been the many other young children who are interested in the same subject as the child in the poem. The lamb, one of God”s creations is admired and praised. The Lamb is compared to a person and then to God himself. “He is called by thy name/ For he calls himself a Lamb/He became a little child/ I a child and thou a lamb/ We are called by his name,” Line13-14, 16-18. Blake uses setting and mood to support his theme in “The Lamb”. The Lamb lives in a perfect world with streams and meadows all about.
The mood is one of happiness and the flawless world of the lamb and the mood justify the theme that the amazing beauty of the world proves that a greathearted father exists. The smooth l”s and yielding vowel sounds contribute to this effect, and also suggest the bleating of a lamb or the lisping character of a child”s chant. Characterization maintains the theme in Blake”s, “The Lamb” and the speaker remains unnamed. The first stanza is rustic and descriptive, while the second focuses on theoretical spiritual matters and contains explanation and analogy. The poem begins with the question, “Little Lamb, who made thee?
Line 1. The speaker, a child, asks the lamb about its origins; how it came into being, how it acquired its particular manner of feeding, its “clothing” of wool, and its “tender voice. ” The child”s question is both naive and profound. The question “who made thee? ” is a simple one, and yet the child is also tapping into the philosophical and timeless questions all human beings have, about their own beginning and the nature of creation. The poem”s apostrophic form contributes to the effect of innocence, since the situation of a child talking to an animal is a believable one, and not simply a literary device.
In the next stanza, the speaker attempts a riddling answer to his own question; the lamb was made by one whom, “calls himself a Lamb,” Line 14 one who resembles in his gentleness both the child and the lamb. Yet by answering his own question, the child converts it into a rhetorical one, thus counteracting the initial impulsive sense of the poem. The poem ends with the child bestowing a blessing on the lamb. The answer is presented as a puzzle or riddle, and even though it is an easy, one that even a child can get, this also contributes to an underlying sense of ironic knowingness or pretense in the poem.
The child”s answer, however, reveals his confidence in his simple and his innocent acceptance of its teachings. The lamb of course symbolizes Jesus, traditionally the image of Jesus as a lamb emphasizes the Christian values of gentleness, meekness, and peace. The image of the child is also associated with Jesus; in the Gospel, Jesus displays a special attentiveness for children, and the Bible”s depiction of Jesus in his childhood shows him as guileless and vulnerable. These are also the characteristics from which the child-speaker approaches the ideas of nature and of God.
When one thinks about a lamb, he or she gets an idea of a small common wooly creature that grazes on grass, vulnerable, and harmless to the world. Blake uses words portraying peace and gentleness, “Gave thee clothing of delight, / Softest clothing woolly bright; Gave thee such a tender voice Line 5-7. The words “delight,” “softest,” “bright,” “woolly,” and “tender” give the readers a sense of calmness or a peaceful feeling. In “The Lamb,” there are several references to God or Jesus. For example, there is a reference to the prayer “Our Father. ” The prayer says, “Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name”.
The poem “The Lamb” says, “For He calls Himself a Lamb” line 14. This is a reference to the Bible, where Jesus often calls himself “the Lamb of God,” “He is meek, and He is mild; / He became a little child,” line 15-16. These lines refer to the moment in which the gentle and caring Jesus became human and was born from Mary. This poem accepts what Blake saw as the more positive aspects of conservative Christian belief. But it does not provide a completely adequate doctrine, because it fails to account for the presence of suffering and evil in the world.
The Lamb” offers a good instance of how Blake himself stands somewhere outside the perspectives of innocence. In his very short poem, Blake succeeds to address the secret of life, as well as to preserve the innocence and peace of mind of readers. It’s obvious that only a great talent can do so much, in such a limited space. Although he uses uncomplicated words, he explicates a very complex topic and what a magnificent job he does by using just the right combination of rhyme, rhythm, and symbolism.
