There is no doubt in my mind that William Blake is
addressing an actual lamb, but that he is drawing attention to God and his son Jesus,
the Lamb of God.
It is no surprise that William Blake's
poem, "The Lamb" is religious in nature. When Blake was young, he claimed to have seen
God and angels. When his younger brother Robert died, Blake declared that he had spoken
with Robert after his passing. Blake was also very
religious.
The first part of the poem addresses the lamb,
asking it if it knows who made it, clothed it in soft wool or gave it "such a tender
voice." In the first stanza, he asks the lamb twice:
Little Lamb, who made
thee?
Dost thou know who made
thee?
This use of the
literary device of repetition shows how important the question is to Blake, and
therefore, to the poem. In the second stanza, "He is called by thy name" alludes to
John's scripture, Chapter 1 (NIV):
The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and
said, 'Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!' (verse
29)
And...
The next day John was there again with two of his
disciples. 36 When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, 'Look, the Lamb of God!' (verses
35-36)
"He became like a
little child" is an allusion to Jesus being born as a child, and also to scripture in
Matthew 18:3 (NIV):
And [Jesus] said: 'I tell you the truth, unless
you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of
heaven.'
When Blake says "We
are called by his name," he is referring to "lamb" once again...the name of "lamb," as
noted above. Blake then repeats the last two lines, showing once again through
repetition, the importance of the closing sentiment of his
poem:
Little
Lamb, God bless thee!Little Lamb, God bless
thee!
In this way, I don't
think that Blake is only calling on God to bless simply the lamb he is referring to
literally in the poem, but for all people who are seen as Jesus' sheep or part of his
"flock."
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