"Little Lamb, who made thee?"

The Lamb
by William Blake

         Little Lamb, who made thee?

         Dost thou know who made thee?

Gave thee life, and bid thee feed

By the stream and o'er the mead;

Gave thee clothing of delight,

Softest clothing, woolly, bright;

Gave thee such a tender voice,

Making all the vales rejoice?

  Little Lamb, who made thee?

   Dost thou know who made thee?

  Little Lamb, I'll tell thee,

 Little Lamb, I'll tell thee:

He is called by thy name,

For he calls himself a Lamb.

He is meek, and he is mild;

He became a little child.

  I a child, and thou a lamb.

   We are called by his name.

  Little Lamb, God bless thee!

   Little Lamb, God bless thee!

William Blake, “The Lamb” represents the children of the Lord. The Bible speaks of the Lord being our shepherd, such as in Psalms 23 which begins with “ The Lord is my shepherd”. The first paragraph of the poem involves a series of questions to the Lamb. With no replies from the Lamb, the Lamb has then identified his ignorance. For, if familiar with the Bible ignorance has a bond among all people. Even someone known as smart can also have ignorance for the simple reason of stopping with the facts. When doing so all other knowledge that could develop among people has created a gap among society. Innocence could also represent the first paragraph. For, the simple reason of all children having innocence. Since, this poem’s location sets in Blake’s, “Songs Of Innocence” the questions that cannot have an answer by the lamb, comes from the innocence of children and the unknowing. Once everyone stops at the facts these such answers go unrequited. Overall this poem brings up a question several times “Little Lamb, who made thee?”, and with innocence or ignorance this question may go unsolved. But, with the knowledge of the Bible the questions could indicate an answer of the Lord. Since, the Lord wants his children to have knowledge with limitations he gives the answer in the second paragraph. The answer found within stanzas 14-17 “For he calls himself a Lamb. …. He became a little child. I a child, and thou a Lamb.” identifies the Lord as the creator. These stanzas also represent the Lord sending his son down to earth to die for our sins. The Lord’s son, Jesus was born on earth so, therefore Jesus has identification as a little child and a Lamb, a Lamb because like everyone else has recognition as a child of God. The 17^th stanza states Jesus as a child and everybody else Lambs, Jesus a child for he has innocence and we Lambs because of our ignorance. In the last sentence Blake has written, “Little Lamb, God bless thee!” which indicates that no matter what we do God will watch over and take care of us all. Also that he will encourage us in all that we do. His blessing helps us to continue and to not give up for one way or another he will guide and help us through it all.