The Lamb

“The Lamb”
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.

Initial Impression-
While reading William Blakes poem, “The Lamb,” I am initially notice the archaic language. It sounds archaic because Blake uses “thee,” “thou,” and “dost,” all of which are words likely to appear in archaic texts such as the bible. The poem also has a distinct rhyme scheme, which is composed of couplets in two stanzas. The poem appraises the lamb for all it does, and goes on to bless the lamb. The narrator asks the lamb about its origins, for the narrator is curious about how the lamb has come to be. Then, the narrator goes on to answer the questions about the lamb in the second stanza. Throughout the poem, the narrator calls the lamb “little,” which makes the lamb seem young and innocent. The narrator may be referring to the lamb as “little” because he feels lambs, just like children, are inherenlty innocent.

Paraphrase-
He wonders about the creation of the little lamb. He asks the little lamb about who gave him life and who fed him. There are more questions the narrator has; he asks the little lamb who has given him the fur the lamb wears. The questions praise the little lamb’s voice but he continues to wonder where the little lamb gets its qualities from. His final questions to the lamb are questions he has already asked the lamb. He starts to answer the question. The little lamb comes from a lamb, he says. The lamb is just like the little lamb, for both appear to be are gentle and innocent. The man reveals himself to actually be a child. The child ends the poems with blessings to the little lamb.

SWIFTT-
SW- The poem is composed of two stanzas, each consisting of rhyming couplets. The writer, William Blake, uses archaic words to ask and answer the questions posed. The diction of the poem contributes to the imagery that is developed.
I- The diction of the poem contributes to the imagery that is developed. For example, the child describes the little lamb as having wooly bright clothing and a tender voice. This makes me imagine a very gentle, friendly lamb.
F- Seeing as the poem a relatively clear, figurative language is not really used. However, in the seventh line, the author uses a metaphor: “Give thee a tender voice.”
T- The soft language in which the child describes the little lamb creates a tone of innocence and compassion. The tone creates
T- Although the questions posed by the child seem simple, the questions are actually very deep and have profound interpretations. Additionally, the questions about life are inherently complex. Thus, the simple answers the child provides are not ideal; rather, the answers are vague and rudimentary. As evident from the answers provided by the child, the theme is that of simplicity and innocence in children.

Conclusions-
Since I have analyzed the poem and determined the theme of the poem to be about innocence and simplicity, I haven’t significantly changed my conclusions from my initial impression. I also still believe that since the poem mentions God and a lamb, it has a religious significance to it. The religious aspect of the poem relates the lamb to the innocence of a child. The child and the lamb are both innocent and blindly following a path. Further, the child in the poem poses profound questions that are answered with a simple statement: “Little Lamb God Bless thee.”