However, today, we see that Blake's phrasing brought much religious significance to the poem. If you recall, Baby Jesus is referred to as "The Lamb of God". With that in mind, what Blake says can be interpreted in various ways. As stated before, "He was a libertarian obsessed with God…a Christian who hated the church." (Kazin, p.3) Yet Blake refers to the entity that created the lamb as the entity that by which he himself was created.
However, he disagreed with many of the aspects of the Christian religion as an “institutionalized system.” Blake believed a person can only truly understand Christ through knowledge, every person should desire to be like Jesus, all men are the sons of God, and God’s presence can be seen in all of humanity. Blake articulated his biblical outlook on life and his opinions of the church through several of his poems and essays. “The Lamb” exhibits Blake’s outlook on life as a Christian. The poem is best known for “the lamb” symbolizing innocence. In literature, a lamb represents innocence and the biblical lamb represents Jesus Christ’s purity and innocent sacrifice.
Also, it can be perceived as Jesus. “The lamb is also a metaphor for the child speaker, who belongs to Christ's ‘flock.’ In Christianity, Jesus is compared both to a lamb going to the sacrifice and to a shepherd who protects his flock of lambs and sheep” (Shmoop). At the beginning of this poem, it starts out with the question of “Little Lamb, who made thee… I a child and thou a lamb” (Line 1, 17). It refers to the saying in the Bible, “…in the beginning when god created the heavens and the earth. God made the wild animals of the earth of every kind” (Mazur).
Although William Blake may have not intended such simplistic interpretation; William Blake may have sought scholarly biblical people to read and interpret that single line as a passage to his chamber of innocence, and metaphorical visions of happiness. Throughout the poem the speaker continues to haggle the lamb about its nature, as if to repress the lamb’s self worth. The lamb is seen as...
William Blake may have used this scene of fertile valleys to allow the reader to also feel the envy towards the lamb’s peaceful existence. “The lamb by no fault of its own is prosecuted by speaker, later to be found incoherent with his own tortures and suffrages”(Paananem 40). William Blake used direct dictation through his poem, “The Lamb”, in distributing his theorem, which we, humans, seek to find peace within our selves only after reestablishing our identity with something pure. Humans are biblically damned to eternal unhappiness, the past was the beginning of future’s pain. The biblical reference to Adam and Eve is subtle but clear enough with the envy portrayed by the speaker towards the lamb.
The lamb has the same name as the creator. "Lamb" is the name of the creator, the lamb is a symbol of Jesus Christ. The child continues to explain to the lamb and answer his own questions that God is the number one provider and has given him life, clothing, food, and such a sweet voice. The answer to the child's concern is God. Blake believed that God was the creato... ... middle of paper ... ...ents engenderment in a simplistic light of all things being made by God, where as “The Tyger” seeks to understand the motivation behind formation .
The diction portrays the Tyger as evil, with a “twist[ed]” heart (10). Lines 13-16 make up the fourth stanza and compare the creator to a blacksmith. Lines 19 and 20 ask two questions that are different from the rest: “Did he smile his work to see?/Did he who made the Lamb make thee?” These lines ask of the Tyger if his maker was happy to see what a monstrous being he had created, and if it was the same maker that made the pure and innocent Lamb. In a sense, t... ... middle of paper ... ...nd lets the reader find the deeper meanings in the poem. The Tyger stands for darkness and evil, while the Lamb is exact opposite.
In the poem "The Lamb", I interpret that William Blake discusses many points questioning creation and religion. He describes the lamb as being an object of innocence and fragility when he says "Gave thee clothing of delight, Softest clothing, woolly, bright; Gave thee such a tender voice" (line 5). "Blake develops an elaborate personal mythology that underlies virtually all symbolism and ideas in his work." (Shilstone, p.223) Blake discusses that the creator of the lamb is also calls Himself a Lamb. With this he brings religious significance into the poem.
He uses the lamb to show innocence like Jesus Christ did in the bible. Blake`s poem illustrates the basic values and morals of Christianity, that are found in the bible. The romantic period was extremely vibrant and rich in literary criticism and nonfictional prose. Blake moves back and forth between innocence and experience through his poetry in Song of Innocence and Song of Experience.
Luther took his religious vocation very seriously and spent much of his time reading the bible, which lead him to question the Roman Catholic Church. He realized man was at a disadvantage because our weaknesses force us to be burdened with sin. He said humans could not earn salvation by doing good deeds or performing holy acts instead we can earn it with faith in Jesus alone. Believing this, Luther was influenced to write the ninety-five theses along with him strongly opposing the sale of indulgences which are documents freeing sinners of punishment after death. After posting up the ninety-five theses on the castle churches door on October 31st, 1517, Luther sent a copy of the theses and an explanation to the Arch Bishop.