The Lamb By William Blake : crtical analysis

 

One of the most famous poems in Blake’s collection Songs of Innocence  “The Lamb” establishes its theme quickly in the first couple of lines. When the narrator asks the lamb if it knows who created it, it is not calling attention to the biological parents. The narrator specifically asks about the nature of creation in the divine sense. The narrator really knows the power of the creator.

 

The narrator implies that the creator has provided everything required for life Such as food, clothing and beautiful landscape so on. It resonates the God’s grace and his kind attitude towards the living beings.

 

The physical image of the lamb spiritually symbolises Christ as there are several striking similarities in between Lamb and Jesus Christ. The brightness of the lamb, and the brightness of Christ suggest their ability to reflect light. In fact both are blessed with such a tender and mild voice. The reference to the lamb’s voice suggests a double meaning. Of course, the bleating of lambs sounds very “tender,” but Blake refers also to the voice of Christ. The words and the speech of Christ are often thought of as “tender” because they embrace love and “rejoice” in life itself.

 

There can be no mistake that not only does the narrator refer to a biological lamb, but he also refers to Jesus Christ in the image of the lamb.  Since this is a poem about creation, This is a theme that is seen again and again in Blake’s poetry.

 

These lines give a clear reference to Christ’s message that “the meek shall inherit the world” and the concept that gentleness and love is the ideal way of behaving in the world. Blake’s narrator also links the behavior of the Divine to the behavior of a little lamb. Christ has the same name as the lamb, and indeed calls himself a lamb. He is gentle and kind and he was once a small child. Then, the speaker himself says that he is a child and both the speaker and the lamb share the name of the Christ.

Finally, the repetition here serves to complete this concept with a blessing. The narrator’s revelation is now fully revealed. He blesses the lamb and himself.