The Lamb Essay Example for Free

The Lamb Essay In Blake’s poem â€Å"The Lamb† it has two main themes childhood and spiritual development. Throughout the poem Blake writes about a creator and innocence. The poem begins with a child asking a simple question of â€Å"Little Lamb who made thee†? (pg. 134) As children we have all asked this question wanting to know where did we come from or how did we get here? Even after many years scientist and bible scholars still argue over this issue. The child in the poem wonders how the lamb got its wool coat and how it survives outdoors in the elements. He knows it is not by chance or luck. The child thinks that it must be someone greater who created him and the lamb. Did Blake intentionally write this poem to have a spiritual effect? I personally feel he did Blake’s religious views were expressed in many of his works. For Blake Jesus symbolizes the essential bond and unity between spirituality and humanity. The entire poem focuses on the lamb and innocence. The Lamb is mentioned throughout the entire bible mostly acknowledged in the New Testament. Revelations 5:12,13 say â€Å"Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing. And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb forever and ever†. (KJV pg)The Reference to Jesus as lamb fortifies the Christian ideals of tenderness, humbleness, and peace. The Child seeks knowledge about the lamb wanting to know why he and the lamb were created after thinking about it and realizing that Jesus is the Lamb and that God is his Father and he made everyone and everything he answers his own questions. The child blesses the lamb at the end of the poem. The poem has a personal tone and sound effects. In â€Å"The Lamb† the child is the main speaker and that gives the poem a childlike tone. This is a simple poem that uses the child-like speaker to ask to deal with complex thoughts and questions. This is also an example of an apostrophe in which the child is addressing the lamb as if they are having a conversation. Kennedy and Gioia state â€Å"the speaker is obviously a persona, or fictitious character: not the poet, but the poet’s creation† (p. 430). â€Å"The Lamb† is almost in the form of a song that a child would sing on the playground. â€Å"The Lamb† is a lyric poem (Kennedy and Gioia) â€Å"a short poem expressing the thoughts and feelings of a single speaker (p. 413). It has a simple rhyme scheme AA BB CC DD AA AA EF GG FE AA. In the first stanza it is simple asking questions, while the second is focused more toward spirituality. â€Å"The Lamb† uses alliteration and assonance and that produces a sound effect in the poem. â€Å"The Lamb† is full of symbolism. Arthur Symons in The Symbolist Movement in Literature writes â€Å"Symbolism, as seen in the writers of our day, would have no value if it were not seen also, under one disguise or another, in every great imaginative writer (pg. 3). A lamb is a mild and meek creature that is both brave and obedient. A lamb also has a childlike quality and innocence. Through the entire poem the lamb and the child are reflections of one another, the child and the lamb are both innocent and meek. William Blake uses symbolic words to create extensive metaphors about the lamb. Jesus as a lamb supports the Christian ideals of tenderness, humbleness, and peace. The lamb is a symbol of placidness of character and patience under suffering. Similar to several of the poems in the book Songs of Innocence, it is acknowledged that Blake looked at the optimistic characteristics of standard Christian belief. However his poems do not offer enough substance, since it falls short in accounting for the occurrence of pain and evil in the world. In Blake’s poem â€Å"The Lamb† it has two main themes childhood and spiritual development. Throughout the poem Blake writes about a creator and innocence. Blake intentionally writes this poem to have spiritual effects on its readers. The Child seeks knowledge about the lamb wanting to know why he and the lamb were created after thinking about it and realizing that Jesus is the Lamb and that God is his Father and he made everyone and everything he answers his own questions. In â€Å"The Lamb† the child is the main speaker and that gives the poem a childlike tone. The poem is simple and uses the child-like speaker to ask to deal with complex thoughts and questions. William Blake uses symbolic words to create extensive metaphors about the lamb. Jesus as a lamb supports the Christian ideals of tenderness, humbleness, and peace. These symbols give us more clarity in the realization that we exist because of The Lamb of God.