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Leslie Cliburn- Section 1

Creation Through the Lamb

Little Lamb who made thee

Dost thou know who made thee
Little Lamb, Ill tell thee.
Little Lamb, Ill tell thee;
He is called by thy name
For he calls himself a Lamb: (pp 166, lines 9-14)

In William Blakes poem The Lamb, the issue of the creation and

salvation of mankind is illustrated to the reader in the form of a higher being,

Jesus Christ, the son of God, who takes the form of the lamb. Blake takes a

stand for his beliefs through the conversation of a boy and a lamb in this

short but powerful poem. The little boy asks the lamb several times if the

lamb knows who made him. The little boy answers this question in lines 13-

14 by telling the lamb that his creator also calls himself a lamb. Blake is

referring to Jesus Christ who is referred to as the lamb throughout the Bible.

Jesus Christ is known as the lamb whom was slain throughout not only the

Old Testament but the New Testament as well. He is also showing his spiritual

beliefs on where we came from and where we are going. The Lamb is a

poem showing where Blake puts his own faith in life. As we see his spiritual

belief is that Jesus Christ, the Lamb, created not only mankind but everything
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in the world. William Blake makes other indications of his belief throughout

his poem which point to Jesus as the creator of the world.

Blake elaborates on the idea that we were created by Jesus Christ in

line 3. The little boy tells the lamb that the person who created him gave him

life and also gave him food to survive. This portrays our creator as a being

who cares and loves us. He goes on to say that the lambs creator gave him

other gifts in life such wool for soft clothing and a tender voice. Blake is

wanting his audience to know that everything and all things come from

above. He is also wanting to show us that not only all things come from him,

but he wants us to know that all good things and all of the blessings we

receive during our lifetime come from above. They come from the Lamb who

provides all of the necessities of life.

Later in the poem Blake tells us the qualities and the behaviors of the

creator. In lines 15-16 we learn that he was meek and mild and became a

little child. This is part of the main theme of the passage as Blake is

communicating that salvation comes through this lamb who created us. He

became a child is touching on the main reason why Jesus Christ came to live

on this Earth. He was put on this Earth as a child to live a life free of sin and

to die on the cross to save all of humanity from their sins. This is the

foundation to Christianity. He lived his life meek and mild shows us the

characteristics of his attitude which he portrayed while living on Earth. He

was a humble servant to all people and treated everyone he met fairly and

lived at peace with them. These are all traits of someone who lived a life free
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of sin and in the end died so the rest of the world may be free their sins and

receive salvation.

At the end of the poem we are shown that Blake in fact in writing about

Christ when he says We are called by him name. Little Lamb God Bless

thee. Little Lamb God Bless thee. We are called by his name is referring to

that we are all children. The little boy is telling us that we are all children of

God because we were all created by him. The little boy ends his conversation

with the lamb by letting him know that God will bless him because God

blesses us all.

William Blake simply wanted to show his faith and belief in Jesus Christ

through his epic poem The Lamb. He believes that Jesus Christ, part of the

Godhead, and God created the world and everything within it. Blake also

believes that Jesus Christ came to this world as a child to die on the cross to

bear the sins of the world. His spiritual life is very important to him and

through this poem he wants his audience to know how they can obtain this

spiritual life. His spiritual life is based on the idea of Christianity and the idea

that God created us and through his son we can obtain salvation.