The Lamb

“The Lamb” is a poem written by the English poet William Blake, first published in Songs of Innocence in 1789 and later collected in Songs of Innocence and of Experience in 1794. A pastoral poem that draws upon the traditions of children’s verse and catechistic teaching, “The Lamb” invites readers to view the natural world with childlike wonder and embrace their own divinity. The poem uses repeated rhetorical questions to frame an argument—albeit a fanciful, childlike one—about the interconnectedness of God, humans, and the natural world. While Blake draws upon conventional Christian symbolism and imagery to shape the poem, his message of communion with God and nature represents a visionary, utopian ideal that defies narrow religious categorization.

Blake is recognized as one of the canonical English poets of the Romantic period, but his work was unappreciated in his lifetime and distinct from the work of his contemporaries. While many Romantic poets sought solace in nature, Blake went a step further by imagining the spiritual dimension of the natural world. He praised the imagination of children, with its innocence and its freedom from the limitations of social and political norms and conventional morality. Blake’s poem “The Lamb” exemplifies his view of the transformative power of innocence. The poem initially resembles a nursery rhyme about a child preaching to a lamb. However, it shares a profound spiritual message with child and adult readers alike, encouraging them to marvel at the wonder of creation. Like the poet himself, “The Lamb” defies easy categorization, but its musicality, jubilant tone, and radiant message make it one of Blake’s enduring lyric poems.

Poet Biography

Although largely unrecognized in his lifetime, William Blake is now considered one of the canonical English poets of the Romantic period and celebrated as a visionary artist and thinker. Blake was born in London on November 28, 1757 to working-class parents, James and Catherine Blake. He received an unorthodox education as a child, learning reading and writing at home instead of attending a conventional school. He read deeply from the Bible and theological treatises, forming his religious consciousness at a young age.

At age 10, Blake enrolled in art classes after deciding he wanted to become a painter. He soon began writing poetry at the age of 12. Two years later, he left drawing school because the classes became too costly for his parents, and he became apprenticed to an engraver named James Basire. Under Basire’s tutelage, Blake learned the traditional techniques of engraving, which he would later use in his career as an engraver and illustrator. Upon completing his apprenticeship at the age of 21, Blake pursued formal art studies at the Royal Academy of Arts in London, though he grew increasingly dissatisfied with the fashionable painting styles taught at the academy and decided to leave before completing his education.

Blake married his wife, Catherine Boucher, in 1782. He taught her to read and write and trained her in the craft of draftsmanship. She went on to aid her husband in producing his engravings and published materials throughout his life. In 1784, Blake opened a print shop with his friend, James Parker, publishing radical political pamphlets. Although this venture proved unsuccessful, Blake continued to work as a professional engraver and illustrator for the rest of his life, supporting himself with a meager living and often facing financial hardship.

In 1783, Blake published his first collection of verse, Poetical Sketches, but the book received little critical attention. He then pioneered the artistic technique of relief etching, or illuminated printing, which he used to illustrate his best-known poetry collection, Songs of Innocence, self-published in 1789. He followed this book with the collection titled Songs of Innocence and of Experience (1794). Throughout the 1790s and into the early 1800s, Blake continued to publish books of his poetry using his illuminated printing method, including The Marriage of Heaven and Hell (1790-1793), Visions of the Daughters of Albion (1793), and Jerusalem (1804-1820).

In 1800, Blake moved to Felpham in West Sussex briefly to work as an illustrator for the poet William Hayley, but Blake’s relationship with the poet grew strained. Blake returned to London in 1804, where he lived the rest of life. He continued to write and publish his poetry to little critical acclaim while also working as an illustrator and artist, his artistic work likewise met with either indifference or hostility from critics. Unwilling to compromise his artistic vision for commercial success, Blake produced poems, paintings, illustrations, and engravings that received critical approval only after his death. He died in relative obscurity on August 12, 1827 and was buried in Bunhill Fields, a resting place for nonconformists in London.

Poem Text

Little Lamb who made thee

        Dost thou know who made thee

Gave thee life & bid thee feed.

By the stream & o'er the mead;

Gave thee clothing of delight,

Softest clothing wooly 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 & he is mild,

He became a little child:

I a child & thou a lamb,

We are called by his name.

        Little Lamb God bless thee.

        Little Lamb God bless thee.

Blake, William. “The Lamb.” 1789. Poetry Foundation.

Summary

The poem opens with a refrain that directly addresses a “Little Lamb” (Line 1). The speaker asks this addressee if it knows who its creator is, invoking the religious theme of the poem: “Dost thou know who made thee” (Line 2). This refrain frames the first stanza, with the body of the stanza acting as an extension of the initial question. The speaker elaborates upon the opening lines by asking the lamb if it knows who animated it with life and gave it a home (Lines 3-4), who made its wooly fleece (Lines 5-6), and who made its voice so joyful (Lines 7-8). The stanza thus outlines the defining characteristics of the lamb, including its pastoral environment, its appearance, and its vocalizations. The lamb is blessed with the “[s]oftest clothing” (Line 6) and “such a tender voice” (Line 7), emphasizing its gentle nature.

In the second stanza, the poem shifts to answering the question posed in the first stanza. The speaker again addresses the lamb with a repeated line, promising to answer the first stanza’s question: “Little Lamb I’ll tell thee” (Line 11). The speaker preaches to the lamb that its creator “is called by thy name, / For he calls himself a Lamb” (Lines 13-14). The poem thus identifies the lamb’s creator as the divine Creator (i.e., the Christian God). The speaker characterizes this Creator as “meek & … mild” (Line 15), emphasizing the gentle, lamb-like nature of this deity. This Creator “became a little child” (Line 16) through the incarnation of Christ, a revelation that becomes significant when the following line reveals the youthful identity of the speaker (“I a child,” Line 17). After making these connections, the speaker proclaims the good news of the poem, that the child and the lamb are “called by his name” (Line 18), establishing a bond and likeness between speaker, addressee, and God. The poem ends with a final repeated line, a joyful benediction to the lamb: “Little Lamb God bless thee” (Line 19).