William Blake’s poem, “The Lamb” has a very tranquil tone. The poem seems to resonate innocence and traquility. This innocence and tranquility is brought out to the reader through Blake’s choice of words.
The word “lamb” generally has the connotation of innocence. This innocence is further emphasized by the poet’s repeated coupling of the word “little” with the word “lamb.” The poet creates a sense of tranquility with the use of words like “meek”, “mild” and “tender.” references to the stream and mead and “softest clothing, wolly, bright” also work themselves well into the tranquil tone of the poem.
Blake also makes effective use of the connotation that lambs are pure in addition to the lamb’s connotation of innocence. In bliblical times, one of the most worthy sacrifices to God was the blood of a lamb due to the idea that lambs were pure. As a matter of fact, William Blake makes reference to Jesus Christ as the one who “calls himself a Lamb.” Jesus Christ, in Christianity, is symbolized as a lamb because he was pure, did no wrong (innocent), and was sacriificed for the sins of mandkind.
The tone of the poem is also carried through by the rhythm of the poem. The poem’sĀ short lines flow well withĀ its tranquility. the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables works well with the poem’s tranquil flow and the lamb’s connotations of innocence and purity.
GSL, I do agree with your interpretation of the poem āThe Lambā. You have made some very interesting points as you made mention of the ālittle lambā being a symbolic reference to God and also when you mentioned the writerās coupling of the words ālittleā and ālambā to illustrate the innocence in the poem. While reading this poem I too also got a sense of tranquility as the tone of the writer seemed very soft and comforting. It almost sounded as though they were reading to a child as the rhythm in the poem gave it the feel of a lullaby. The words and the rhythm in the poem brought the image of a mother rocking her baby to sleep to mind and the poetās use of the words āmeekā and āmildā also made me think of The Baby Jesus in the stable in Bethlehem.
What I hear both shae and GSL saying is that the poem’s tone comes across not only through word choice and images but also through the pattern of rhyme and rhythm, the use of sound, as well as the symbolic meaning of the lamb. It’s great to think about how all of the elements we have studied so far come together to create this effect.
Look here for a version of the poem and the illustrated plate from Blake’s “Songs of Innocence.”
i defiantly agree with this person… also i would like to add the lamb could be described in a biblical sense of innocence and childlike.. as blake as both songs of innocence and experience it could be that he is describing god and devil… songs of innocent being godlike and songs of experience being that it is the devil…..the way this poem is written is that it has a good flow it like a stream…the lamb is very close to jesus in the bible.. it is read that when jesus was born in the stable … there was lambs around … since since has a inocent look… and represents a child
I agree with the interpretation of “The Lamb”. Little, delight, bright, softest, tender, rejoice and mild all made for an innocent piece. The lamb is young and doesnt know of his maker so someone wiser (speaker) has to explain this to him/her. It can be used to describe christianity but in broader terms, the thought of good and bad, bad being “The Tyger”. When coupled with it, you see the speaker knows the answers for the lamb but is asking questions of the tyger. How could a maker who made something so beautiful as the lamb (good) turn and make something so scary as the tyger (bad)? It’s the idea that in a world where there is such beauty there is also war and crime.