The illustrated poetry “The Lamb” was written by William Blake, born in 1757 in London. The speaker of the verse is the author who addresses the little lamb, God’s creation. The poem’s addressee is a little lamb and a reader who observes the dialogue between the addressee and the speaker. The verse reveals the theme of innocence, beauty, and joy of life, filled with goodness and light. The poem’s tone is meek and joyful; the speaker takes the reader into the world of transparent streams and sun-drenched meadows. This paper aims to explicate the poem “The Lamb” by William Blake.
The poem widely uses figures of speech and literary techniques. In particular, the image of a lamb is an archetype, an ancient symbol of Jesus Christ: “He is called by thy name / For he calls himself a Lamb” (Blake, n.d., para. 2). This comparison was used in the Bible and then in many literary works. The poem also uses anthropomorphism, as the author refers to the lamb, posing a rhetorical question: “Little Lamb who made thee / Dost thou know who made thee” (Blake, n.d., para. 1). The poem uses anaphora several times: “Little Lamb I’ll tell thee / Little Lamb I’ll tell thee!” and “Little Lamb God bless thee / Little Lamb God bless thee” (Blake, n.d., para. 2). The author uses the anaphora to create a rhythm of the verse, which resembles a solemn prayer.
Further, the author as well uses alliteration, consonance, and assonance. Alliteration, or repetition of the same consonant sounds, is used in the first stanza: “Little Lamb who made thee” (Blake, n.d., para. 2). Further, the author refers to the lamb as “Little Lamb” throughout the text. William Blake uses alliteration with the sound “l” in all stanzas of the second verse: “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” (Blake, n.d., para. 2). And further: “I a child & thou a lamb / We are called by his name / Little Lamb God bless thee / Little Lamb God bless thee” (Blake, n.d., para. 2). As can be seen from the quote, the “l” sound is used in every stanza of the second verse.
The author uses assonance, or vowel repetition, in the first stanzas. The stanza “Dost thou know who made thee” repeats the sound “o” (Blake, n.d., para. 1). Further, in the stanzas “Gave thee life & bid thee feed / By the stream & o’er the mead,” the consonant sounds “i” and “e” are repeated (Blake, n.d., para. 1). The poem also uses metaphor in the stanzas “Gave thee clothing of delight / Softest clothing wooly bright.” Here, the author compares the delicate wool of a lamb to clothing (Blake, n.d., para. 1). Then, in the stanzas, “He is meek & he is mild / He became a little child,” the author compares God to a little child. Notably, the author uses allusion to convey to the reader the idea that “He” is the “God.” The author does not directly mention the name of the Lord but uses the words “he calls himself a Lamb,” where the word “Lamb” is written with a capital letter, and at the end of the poem, there is a repeating stanza “Little Lamb God bless thee,” where God is mentioned.
As a rule, a metaphor involves a comparison of two concepts, one of which is “tenor,” and the other is “vehicle.” “Tenor” refers to the concept, object, or person meant, and the “vehicle” displays the image that carries the weight of the comparison. In the examples above, “wooly” is a tenor, and “clothing” is a vehicle; “He” is a tenor and “child” is a vehicle. The poem’s central metaphor is the comparison of a lamb with God in the stanza, “For he calls himself a Lamb” (Blake, n.d., para. 2). Further, using the allusion technique, the author returns to this metaphor in the final stanzas, “Little Lamb God bless thee / Little Lamb God bless thee” (Blake, n.d., para. 2). The author combines the two metaphors in the stanzas “He became a little child / I a child & thou a lamb / We are called by his name” (Blake, n.d., para. 2). Therefore, the poem represents a circle of metaphors that unite a person or a child, God, and a lamb.
Interestingly, since the person is the speaker and the lamb is the addressee of the poem, in final stanzas, the speaker and the addressee merge into one, being “called by his name.” This impression is reinforced by the final stanzas “Little Lamb God bless thee / Little Lamb God bless thee,” where the speaker asks for blessings for the lamb and all living things (Blake, n.d., para. 2). Therefore, in the provided double metaphor, “Lamb” is a tenor, “He” and “God” is a vehicle and “child” is both a tenor and a vehicle. Likely, the author has not accidentally introduced such ambiguity into the text. On the contrary, his goal was to designate man’s place between nature, personified by the lamb, and God.
Thus, the poem “The Lamb” by William Blake was explicated. The author used figures of speech and literary devices such as anthropomorphism and archetype. The poem also utilized poetic terms such as anaphora, alliteration, assonance, simile, and metaphor. The metaphors used in the poem deserve special attention since, through metaphors, the author conveyed the basic concept of poetic work, uniting the images of Little Lamb, God, and a child.
References
Blake, W. (n.d.). The Lamb. Web.