The Lamb by William Blake – Summary and Questions

The Lamb By William Blake

Short Summary
“The Lamb” is the simplest poem written by William Blake and was published in his collection Songs of Innocence in 1789. In the figure of the lamb, the poem finds the expression of God’s will and the beauty of God’s creation. The poem is told from the point of view of a child who shows an intuitive understanding of the nature of joy and, indeed, the joy of nature. There is little suspicion of urban setting found elsewhere in Blake’s poem “The Lamb.” “The Lamb,” then, is a kind of hymn to God, praising God’s creation while also suggesting that man has lost the ability to fully appreciate it.

The Lamb by William Blake

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Detailed Summary and Analysis
The poem is told from the perspective of a child. In this simplest poem, Blake uses a child as the speaker who directly addresses a lamb. He poses some questions and then answers them. The interconnected and repeated questions are both simple and deep – ‘who made thee?’ This answers the paramount question that people have about where we come from and who we are. In bringing this question through an innocent child’s mouth, addressing the most innocent of animals, a lamb, Blake reveals that the children sometimes go to the crux of existence because they have not yet learned to complicate things. You just have to see the reaction of an adult to the question, “Where did I come from?” to realise this.

In the second stanza, the speaker excitingly offers the answer to the question, “Who made there?”. The Lamb was created by him who has the same name as the lamb. This creator is benevolent and loving, and he was once a little child. The speaker too is a child and their creator’s name is shared by both the speaker and the lamb. The speaker then demands that God twice bless the lamb. There is a transition from the physical to the spiritual as the child speaks about Jesus as the creator and saviour of both lamb and child

Thus, the response given by the child in the poem shows innocence–the lamb was made by him who calls himself ‘a lamb’ just as the child was made by him who’ became little child.’ This child and lamb relationship with Jesus reflects the ideas implied in the Introduction and in’ The Shepherd.’ The depiction of Jesus as the child of God and as the lamb is supported by the statement, ‘He is meek and he is mild’, reminiscent of Christmas carols–perhaps, one may claim, the Jesus of Innocence, but also the Jesus who sheltered children in the New Testament by stating that for those who abused them, ‘it were better for them that a millstone were put around their neck and they were cast into the river’.This is also the Jesus who told people, ‘unless you become as little children, you will not enter into the kingdom of heaven.’

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This is the concept which permeates Songs of Innocence. As he reveals in this poem, Blake himself maintained the beautiful ability to see life from a childlike point of view. He insists that the child’s creativity and simplicity will continue as a guiding light in the darkening world of experience. In’ The Lamb ‘ the world of experience is noticeably absent. The engraving portrays the nude child feeding the lambs outside a small country cottage under a defensive canopy of trees.

The lamb is portrayed in its natural setting, frolicking alongside streams and running across fields. Those who made the lamb even gave it its blanket, which is made of fluffy white fur. According to the author, the soft noises of the lamb delight the nearby valleys. The poet has used many images of Nature -‘by the stream,’ ‘o’er the mead, ‘ ‘all the vales,’ and of joy – ‘clothes of delight, ‘ ‘softest clothing woolly bright’, ‘tender voice ‘ and ‘vales rejoice. Life, food, clothing and soft noise describe the lamb’s physical climate. The stream here is the water of life, and the meadows and valleys are created for the lambs and children for free enjoyment.

The poem ends with a brief, childlike prayer,’ Little Lamb, God bless you.’ The poem’s repetitive nature gives it the consistency of a child’s prayer or hymn, and the simple rhythm, strengthened by the use of assonance, reinforces this impression (it could be sung in the style of’ Twinkle Twinkle Little Star!’) as does the rhyme scheme in rhyming pairs–although ‘name’ and ‘lamb’ are half-rhymes. While it is less apparent to modern readers, the repetitive use of the pronoun ‘ thee’ gives the child and the lamb a sense of familiarity and closeness.

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Q. What is the Lamb a metaphor of?
Ans. The Lamb of the poem is a metaphor for a child, someone innocent and unmarked by life’s experiences. It may also refer to Christ, the Lamb of God.

Q. How, according to the speaker, are the Little Lamb and its creator similar?
Ans. The speaker reminds the Little Lamb that its creator, God, is often referred to as Lamb (Jesus Christ), and like the Little Lamb, he once took the form of a child on Earth.

Q. What type of rhyme scheme is the poem written in?
Ans. The first stanza of the poem is written in rhyming couplets. The second stanza features a circular/symmetrical rhyme scheme of a/a/b/c/d/d/c/b/a/a.

Q. What is the main idea of the lamb?
Ans. “The Lamb” is a poem by William Blake, which was published in 1789 in Songs of Innocence. This poem centres on Christianity, having the “Lamb” as the symbol of Jesus as “The Lamb of God.” Innocence is the ultimate theme of this poem. So the main idea here revolves around a child asking a lamb about who created them.

Q. Is the Lamb a romantic poem?
Ans. “The Lamb” is a poem that has been written as an illustration depicting nature. This is romantic in the sense that it places spirituality in a natural setting through God. The Lamb itself also serves as a Christian sign of innocence, which can also reflect the same thing only in terms of nature.

Q. What type of poem is the lamb?
Ans. The Lamb’ is a lyrical poem consisting of two stanzas. The first stanza of the poem is written in rhyming couplets with a simple rhyme scheme as AA BB BB BB AA. The second stanza features a circular/symmetrical rhyme scheme of AA BC DD CB AA. In fact, the poem uses childlike tone and voice of singing that respond to the simple rhyme scheme, and both work together to establish a special effect.

The poem is written in a simple trochaic meter in rhymed couplets. This meter is often contained in children’s verse, and therefore enhances the feeling of simplicity. The opening and closing couplets of each stanza alter by using a’ made thee’ spondee, which makes them more emphatic and slows down the reader. In addition, repetition in the first and last couplet of each stanza makes these lines a refrain, which helps to give the poem the strength of its music.

Q. What is the tone of the lamb?
Ans. The tone of “The Lamb” is both joyful and reverent. The word choice in the poem creates a cheerful, intimate, and childish atmosphere. The image of a fluffy lamb instantly warms the reader’s heart. The lamb as the symbol of Jesus always brings a sense of faith. The use of simple language subsequently creates an innocent and childlike speaker. Blake paints a picture where the lamb sings with its “tender” voice by the stream and eats delicious grass as its softest “clothing of delight” shines in the sun. The picture combines sound, smell and touch to create a balanced joyful tone. The lamb’s sound instil peacefulness, the grass’s scent evokes a sense of sweetness, and the shiny wool offers a warmth feel. The picturesque view creates a wonderful atmosphere that makes “all the vales rejoice.” The speaker then tells a story where Jesus is born as a child. On Christmas, as people celebrate the birth of “meek” and “mild” Jesus, the story reflects a cheerful tone once again.

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Q. What is the theme of the lamb?
Ans. The key theme in William Blake’s poem “The Lamb” is the appreciation of specific qualities of Jesus and His gifts to mankind. Blake asks the lamb in the first stanza if she knows who gave it life, soft wool and a gentle voice. The image of a fuzzy lamb immediately warms the reader’s heart. The lamb’s sound instils peacefulness

Other significant theme of the poem is innocence and simplicity. The lamb is described in the question as “little” which shows the intimacy between the speaker and the lamb. Instead of questioning how the lamb is born, or how the lamb is created, Blake uses the word “made” to demonstrate the speaker’s innocence and simplicity.
The use of simple vocabulary also establishes an innocent and childlike speaker.

Yet another and the most theme of the poem is spirituality. It places spirituality in a natural setting through God. The Lamb itself serves as a Christian symbol of innocence, which can also reflect the same thing only in terms of nature.

Q. What two things does the lamb symbolize?
Ans. Traditionally, lambs stand for innocence. Jesus Christ is compared to a lamb in the Christian Gospels because he marches meekly to be sacrificed on behalf of mankind. In fact, lambs as baby sheep are related to the childhood theme that runs throughout the Songs of Innocence.

Q. What does the lamb symbolize in Christianity?
Ans. The lamb in Christianity represents Christ as both suffering and victorious; it a sacrificial animal, and can also symbolize gentleness, innocence, and purity. The lamb also symbolizes sweetness, forgiveness, compassion and meekness.

Q. Who do you think has made the lamb?
Ans. This question is one of the most profound and spiritual questions asked by the poet William Blake and he is well familiar that it’s the same Omni-potent that created the tiger who created the lamb as well. The lamb is gentle and meek and the lamb can be turned into a child

Q. Why do Christians eat lamb?
Ans. The Jews who converted to Christianity were accustomed to eating roast lamb on Passover, continued the practice at Easter. Moreover, Christians often refer to Jesus as the “Lamb of God,” and it makes sense for the food to turn up at the Easter table.

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