The Lamb

Summary

The Lamb is a short poem from William Blake's Songs of Innocence, first etched and printed in 1789 and later bound with Songs of Experience in 1794, where its partner poem is The Tiger. It has two stanzas of ten lines each, spoken by a child to a lamb in a meadow. In the first stanza the child asks a series of questions: Little lamb, who made thee? Who gave you life and bid you feed by the stream and over the meadow, who gave you your clothing of delight, soft, woolly and bright, and such a tender voice that makes all the valleys rejoice? The stanza ends by repeating the question: Little lamb, who made thee? Dost thou know who made thee? In the second stanza the child answers. The maker is called by the lamb's own name, for He calls Himself a Lamb. He is meek and mild, and He became a little child. So the child and the lamb are both called by His name, and the poem ends with a blessing: Little lamb, God bless thee! The poem is a simple catechism in song. Its questions and answers echo the way children learned the faith by question and answer, and its central idea comes from the New Testament, where John the Baptist calls Jesus the Lamb of God and where Christ is born as a child. In Blake's illuminated page a little boy stands before a lamb beside a cottage, under arching trees. The poem's gentle rhythm, its repeated lines and its rhymed couplets make it easy for young children to learn by heart. Read beside The Tiger, which asks the same question about a terrifying creature and receives no answer, The Lamb represents the state of innocence: trust in a Creator who is gentle, near and loving.

Plot or Argument

• Stanza 1: the questions

  The child asks the lamb who made it and gave it life, food, wool and voice.

• Stanza 2: the answer

  The Maker is Christ, who calls Himself a Lamb and became a little child.

• Closing blessing

  Child and lamb are both called by His name, and the child blesses the lamb.

Characters

• The child, speaker

  A young child who questions and blesses the lamb.

• The lamb, listener

  A young sheep in the meadow.

• The Maker, Christ

  Called by the lamb's name, meek and mild, who became a child.

Lessons

• Who made thee?

  The poem teaches that God is the Maker of every creature.

  • What gifts does the child list?
  • Who gave them?
  • Read Genesis 1:24-25.

• Christ the Lamb

  The poem's answer is Jesus, the Lamb of God, who became a child.

  • Why does Jesus call Himself a Lamb?
  • Read John 1:29. What does it mean?
  • How are the child and the lamb called by His name?

• Question and answer

  The poem is built like a catechism, with a question stanza and an answer stanza.

  • Find the repeated lines.
  • Why repeat the question?
  • Write your own question-and-answer poem about a creature.

Context

Blake engraved and coloured Songs of Innocence in London in 1789. Children of the time often learned Christian teaching through catechisms of questions and answers.

Composition

Etched in Songs of Innocence (1789) and reissued in the combined Songs of Innocence and of Experience (1794).

Reception

One of Blake's best-loved poems, frequently set to music, notably by John Tavener (1982).

Comparisons

• The Tyger

  Its partner in Songs of Experience, asking the same question of a fearsome creature.

• Psalm 23

  The Lord as Shepherd of His sheep.

• Songs of Innocence and of Experience

  The full collection in which it appears.

Quotes

For Students

A reading companion for classical Christian high school students. See the student guide.

Reading Guide

Watch for

• The repeated question at the start and end of stanza 1.
• The gifts the child lists.
• The answer in stanza 2.
• The final blessing: Little lamb, God bless thee!

Key terms and names

Catechism

Teaching by question and answer.

Lamb of God

A title of Jesus from John 1:29.

Mead

A meadow or grassy field for grazing.

Meek

Gentle, humble and patient.

Incarnation

God the Son becoming human, born as a child.

Seminar Questions

1. Comprehension What questions does the child ask the lamb?
2. Comprehension Who is the Maker, according to stanza 2?
3. Interpretation Why does Christ call Himself a Lamb?
4. Interpretation How are the child and the lamb alike?
5. Interpretation How does The Tiger change the question?
6. Big Question What does it mean to be called by God's name?

Faith Connections

• John 1:29 (Scripture)

  Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

• Isaiah 53:7 (Scripture)

  He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter.

• Matthew 11:29 (Scripture)

  I am meek and lowly in heart: the gentleness of Christ.

Logic and Rhetoric

Central argument: The child asks who made the lamb and gave it its gifts; the answer is Christ, who calls Himself a Lamb and became a child; therefore child and lamb share His name and His blessing.

Rhetorical device: question and answer. The two stanzas form a catechism, question then answer.

Debate: Resolved: that The Lamb is the answer to The Tiger.

Memory Work

Little lamb, who made thee? Dost thou know who made thee,

He is meek, and He is mild, He became a little child.

Writing Prompts

Essay: How does Blake teach the Incarnation through the voice of a child?

Comparison with The Tyger: Compare the questions and answers in The Lamb and The Tiger.

Creative Prompts

• Poetry

  Write two stanzas asking a creature who made it and answering.

• Classroom

  Memorise and recite; then read The Tiger and compare.

• Classroom

  Draw an illuminated page for the poem, as Blake did.

Further Reading

• Songs of Innocence and of Experience, William Blake

  The full collection.

• The Gospel of John, chapter 1, Scripture

  Behold the Lamb of God.