Reading Between the Lines

William Blake’s poem “The Lamb” is a simplistic poem until you read deeper into it and find a powerful and uplifting religious message about creation. Blake is able to draw people into his poem by having a young innocent child as the speaker, asking rhetorical questions to a lamb. Although he also throws irony into the second stanza by having the young child answer his own questions, asked in the first stanza. The poem has a tone so sweet and soft that it is not offensive in any means and is not affected by cynicism of the older generations. Blake’s poem is one of the most famous poems in English literature because of the spiritual message left between the lines.

Blake chose to have a child as the speaker in his poem, he made that decision to show the innocence and naivety of young children, rather the cynical characteristics of an older character. The Child is speaking to a lamb in the poem, in the first stanza he is full of rhetorical questions to ask the lamb.(Gualdoni) It takes place by a stream, and the idea the child is most interested in is where did the lamb come from, “who made thee” and also about its “wooly, bright clothing”. In the second stanza the child seems to have a deeper understanding and inevitably answers his own questions he had been asking the lamb in the first stanza.

The opening couplet of the poem is “Little Lamb who made thee” , “Dost thou know who made thee”. With this word choice in the beginning it is easy to see a soft, simple, innocent tone to the poem. A child is talking to an animate creature trying to discover the realistic truth about creation. Imagery is displayed in the first stanza by asking who “gave thee clothing of delight” “softest clothing wooly bright”. It is easy to see the soft,...

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... and displays a soothing feeling that is carried throughout the rest of the poem. The first time William Blake’s poem is read, it is read with simplicity, although the more times you read it you get a deeper meaning each time with the symbolism of the lamb and the description of creation.

Works Cited

1.Gualdoni, Annabella. "Reflections on William Blake's "The Lamb"." http://british-poetry.suite101.com/article.cfm/reflections-on-william-blakes-the-lamb. Suite 101, 08022010. Web. 13 Mar 2010. .

2. Merriman, C.D. "William Blake." Literature Network. Jalic Inc., 08022006. Web. 13 Mar 2010. .

3. Moore, Andrew. "William Blake's Poems." AM. Andrew Moore, 08022004. Web. 13 Mar 2010. .