THE LAMB – William Blake
Little lamb, who created you?
Do you know who created you?
Who gave you life and told you to nourish
By the stream and over the meadow;
Who gave you clothing (a covering) of delight,
The softest, woolly, bright one (clothing);
Who gave you such a tender voice,
That makes all the valleys rejoice?
Little lamb, who created you?
Do you know who created you?
Little lamb, I will tell you,
Little lamb, I will tell you:
He is called by your name,
Because he calls himself a Lamb:
He is gentle and he is mild;
He became a little child.
I, a child, and you a lamb.
We are called by his name.
Little lamb, God bless you!
Little lamb, God bless you!
Summary
The speaker addresses the lamb, asking if it knows who created it, who gave it life and invited it to eat.
The lamb is then described in its natural environment and running through fields. Whoever made the lamb
also gave it its hair, which is made out of soft white wool.
The lamb's gentle noises, according to the speaker, make the surrounding valleys happy.
The speaker then asks again: Who made the lamb?
In the second stanza, the speaker excitedly offers to tell the lamb the answer.
The creator has the same name as the lamb, and indeed calls himself "Lamb."
This creator is gentle and kind, and he was once a small child.
The speaker, too, is a child, and both the speaker and the lamb share the name of their creator.
