Analysis of a Poem

Analysis of a Poem:

“The Lamb” by William Blake

“The Lamb” by William Blake is a strong teaching of the image of Jesus. The author writes it as a form of a child’s song which an adult is asking questions to a child and the answer to “Who made thee?” This is also a form of a teacher teaching a lesson about Jesus (Blake line 1).The author uses of repetition, metonymy, personification and allusion build the image of Jesus.

The lamb unquestionably symbolizes Jesus. The lamb is a traditional image of Jesus that denotes values of gentleness, meekness, and peace. Each stanza of “The Lamb” has five couplets, with AABB rhyme scheme. This means that the rhymes are easy to follow and close-knit which helps bring out the child feel of the songlike poem. The metonymy of the lamb is being taught as Jesus, which has biblical symbolism (as well as an allusion) as the “lamb of god who takes away the sins of the world...” (NASB John 1:28-29) Also in this poem in line 15 Blake personifies the Lamb in similarity with Jesus. This poem reminds us the reader how we are lost without a creator, we would be nothing without the sent lamb as a sacrifice for us. The use of word phrasing paints this image.

Right from the beginning the first stanza contains the question to a child, “Little Lamb, who made thee?” (Blake stanza 1). Followed by this question the second gives the answer. “The Lamb”, is compared with a child to a lamb in the first stanza where the lamb is also a metaphor. In the second stanza a metaphor compares the lamb to Jesus Christ. In the second stanza the lamb is also a biblical allusion. This is very important to the poem for a few reasons; the metaphor brings out the teaching instructive aspect of the poem to a child teaching where humans came from and the greatness that Jesus brings into the world. Also gives the reader a humbling but rejoicing feeling towards the poem and its meaning.

Catching the rhythm or rhyme scheme is also important. The AABB is a simple rhyme scheme that has a soft flow for every two rhyming lines. Though this is accurate in the first stanza, it becomes more complex in the second stanza by the lines “He is called by thy name, for he calls himself a lamb” and “I a child and thou a lamb” (Blake Stanza 2). These lines stand out in the poem because they have their own rhyme scheme which sets it apart from the rest of the poem. Ultimately these lines Focus the readers view on