Analysis of "Little Lamb" - by William Blake

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Little Lamb

                                            
                                          
Little Lamb who made thee 
         Dost thou know who made thee 
Gave thee life & bid thee feed. 
By the stream & o'er the mead;
Gave thee clothing of delight,
Softest clothing wooly 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 & he is mild, 
He became a little child: 
I a child & thou a lamb, 
We are called by his name.
         Little Lamb God bless thee. 
         Little Lamb God bless thee.

- The speaker of the poem is a child who stands with the Lamb. The lyric of the poem is a concerned about that who is creator and what is the nature of the creator. These questions are raised by the child. The use of "gave" in line 3 and line 5 indicate the nature of creator as "giving/ kind".

- The creator endows the creature with the life and then he means to sustain the life. The child lives in primal instance.  He sees the creator as who gives everything-

(i) life

(ii) essential things for life

- In fact, the act of creation is similar to the act of giving. The creator endows the feature of participation of the life.

- The child is wiser than Lamb. The child acts as who knows the nature of the creator.

- "he become a little child" - it is a crucial line. The creator is not presented as abstract. The creator becomes his creation "little child". He owes himself to his creation. The adjective "meek" and "mild" (line 15) draw the image of the Christ. The creator becomes both of his creature- the child and the Lamb.

- The creation comes in to the play in the act of sacrifice. Everything is the creator. The creator sacrifices himself into the creation. But now the duty of the creature is to sacrifice self back into the creator. There is no any separation between creator and creation. But we have lost that innocence. Therefore, we can't realize that we are the creator. The creator appeals to have the face of lamb as well the child.

- The child, the lamb and the creator participate in a singular phenomenon. 

- The last two lines of the poem suggest the image of blessing. Every element is equally blessed. When the creatures think themselves with the idea of duties then they realize that they are creator themselves.


     

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