The Lamb by William Blake
The Lamb belongs to William Blake's Songs of Innocence, which appeared 1783. Songs of Innocence is a volume of poems in which the poet looks the world through the innocent eyes of childhood and sees beauty and love all around in the society of man and in the world of nature. In the world of these Songs there is not any suspicion of motives, no envy or jealousy. In it human beings have the same kind of security and assurance as belongs to lambs under a wise shepherd or to children with loving parents.
The shepherd and Father of Blake's
poems is God. Again, it is He who is Himself a lamb and becomes a little child.
In the Songs of Innocence
God, lamb and child are one and form a trinity. The world as depicted in the
Songs is a "lower Paradise, very near to the perfect time when lion shall
lie down with the lamb."
The Lamb William Blake Summary
The child makes a series of questions
to the lamb. "Do you know who has made you, has given you life and taught
you to feed by the riverside and in the meadows? Who has given you happy
clothing, soft wooly and bright? Who has given you such a tender voice that
feels the entire valley with joy ? Little Lamb, do you know who has made
you?"
A child asks a lamb if it knows who
has created it, bid it graze in the meadow beside the stream, given it
delightful and cozy fleece, and sweet soft voice that fills the valleys with
joy. The child does not wait for the answer He himself answers his questions.
He tells the lamb that his creator calls himself a Lamb. He is meek and mild,
and came on earth as a little child. Then he remarks that he, a child and it, a
lamb are called by the name of God (i.e. are manifestations of the same
Godhead). They are united with the Almighty Being by virtue of their innocence,
gentleness and meekness. Then he wished that God might bless it.
The Lamb William Blake Analysis
William Blake’s The Lamb is a typical poem of the Songs of Innocence, a collection of
Blake's poems which give us glimpses of an ideal world free from the deadening
influence of social custom, selfishness or jealousy which assails the mind of a
man as he grows up. It is marked by the simplicity that becomes a child. The
child is struck with wonder at the beauty, innocence, meekness and mildness of
a lamb and out of it’s naively asks it if it knows who its creator, giver of
its food, beautiful fleece and charming and joyful voice is. He does not,
however, wait for the answers, but himself gives them.
The meaning of the poem is simple
enough. But this simplicity is more apparent than real. It is charged with
deeper spiritual meaning which becomes obvious after the questions are asked
and answers done. The deeper meaning comes out when the child remarks,
“I. a child and thou a lamb
We are called by His name"
These lines reveal that all the
created things are manifestations of Godhead.
The child and the lamb are unified (made one) with God and the quality that
links them together is innocence. The harmlessness of the lamb and the purity
of the child are but the manifestations of God's innocence. The child harbours
no evil thought nor does he act premeditatedly as the adults debased by
experience do. Thus God, lamb and child form a holy trinity.
Also Read:
👉William Blake's The
Tyger Poem Summary, Analysis, Line by Line Analysis
👉William Blake Poem
London Analysis, Summary, Title, London as a Poem against Social Injustices
👉Blake's Mysticism and Symbolism in The Lamb
Compare and Contrast
The Lamb and The Tyger by Blake
👉A Comparative Study
on Blake’s two Chimney Sweeper Poems
Blake, despite his deeply religious
nature, does not believe that God exists apart from man, but says expressly:
"God is Man and exists in us and we in him....Imagination is the Divine Body in every man."
The Lamb expounds that in the world
of innocence (i.e. God) even the meanest creature such as the lamb which we
consider low and ignoble occupies as high and noble a position as man because
of its divinity.
The Lamb is a romantic poem. It reveals Blake's
mystical, religious and idealistic view of the world. It is the
glorification of childhood which is a great romantic quality, and which
registers its highest water-mark in Wordsworth. Here the child is identified
with God and shown as familiar with the mystery of creation. The pastoral
setting of the poem lends a romantic charm to it. The picture of the valleys rejoiced
by the tender voice of the lamb, and the green, river-side pasture where the
lamb grazes is not only romantic, but also anticipates the naturalism of
Wordsworth. The poem also transports us to the far off days when the earth was
a near paradise and when animals spoke like human beings.
The poem is a triumph of lyricism which is the hall-mark of
romantic poetry. It is characterized by such lyrical qualities as spontaneity,
simplicity, sincerity and musicality.
The Lamb William Blake Theme
Innocence is a prevalent theme throughout all of Blake's
poetry. The other theme is man and
the natural world. In the poem, the natural world is not a bad place like
reality. In this, the poem implies that God is a kind caretaker and will lead us
innocent lambs through the world. The
lamb represents the innocence in the natural world and the theme of
childhood.
The Lamb William Blake Symbolism
The Lamb
illustrates Blake's use of symbols.
In Songs of Innocence his
symbols are largely drawn from the Bible, and since he makes use of such
familiar figures as the Good Shepherd and the Lamb of God, there is not much
difficulty in seeing what he means. The lamb symbolizes the gentle, tender, innocent,
pleasant aspect of human soul. It also symbolizes
Jesus Christ who is referred to as the Lamb of God "that takes away
the sin of the World."
The Lamb William Blake Form
The diction of
the poem is excellent and contributes to the lyrical quality of the poem. The
couplet which begins or closes each stanza has three stressed syllables with feminine rhyme, as
"Little Lamb, who made thee
Dost thou know who made thee"
The central couplets have each four
stresses with masculine endings. As -
"Give thee life, and bid thee feed
By the stream and o'er the mead,”
The Lamb William Blake Line by Line Summary
The Lamb - The lamb is a symbol of innocence. The
Tiger in Songs of Experience stand for the fierce forces in the universe and in
the soul.
Who made thee
- Does the child know who created him? This refers to the Christian belief that
Christ, the Son, was created by God, the Father.
Bid the feed - ordered you to eat by
the riverside and the meadows.
Clothing of delight- delightful clothing. Blake thinks of delight as the clothing of
innocent soul which is represented by the child and the lamb.
Softest clothing, wooly bright - The lamb has a cover of soft wool over the body. It is
bright because it is innocent and pure. It has a simple bright beauty as
contrasted with the terrible beauty of the tiger.
Tender voice -
The lamb has soft voice that fills the entire valley with joy.
N.B. Blake indicates the soft body
and tender voice of the lamb. The tiger has "fearful symmetry" 'fire
in the eyes', 'sinewy heart'. The
contrast between the lamb and the tiger is to be noted.
He is called by thy name - God is called the lamb and the child. We are 'Lord's
people'. God has become the lamb and the child and everything else. The creator
is identified with the created.
He is meek, and He is mild - The child is echoing the Christian belief. It is Charles Wesley's hymn: "Gentle Jesus, meek and mild".
Ta child, thou a lamb - The child, the lamb and God are alike innocent. The innocence and
goodness of God are reflected in the lamb and the child.
We are called by His name - Child and lamb are called God. God is child, and lamb.
Little lamb......God bless thee! - The child unconsciously but seriously addresses the lamb
as another child. In his innocence and joy, he makes the repetition.
0 Comments
Post a Comment