William Blake’s “The Lamb” is an attempt to bring up life’s ultimate questions through the voice of child-like speaker. The poem is structured with the question as the first stanza and the answer as the second stanza. Blake initially introduces a naive child asking simple questions but later dives into deep philosophical theories regarding life and creation as the child in turn tries to answer those exact questions. “The Lamb” in trying to convey the answers to certain philosophical questions exhibits basic Christian creedal statements and relays certain images concerning Jesus and also tries to explain His relation to common man.
The opening line of the poem embodies every human’s curiosities surrounding creation and the origins of human existence. The speaker naively questions the lamb regarding its nature and also its creation. The speaker is representing a child and childish inquiries, yet is addressing the notions of our existence that every person questions at one point or another, be it a child or an adult. The childish inquires carry on as the speaker mentions if the lamb knows who “Gave thee clothing of delight…[and] Gave thee such a tender voice.” The poem is enveloped in a sea of naivety as well as humor as the speaker is directly speaking with an animal seeking profound philosophical clarification concerning similar questions that all humans have contemplated at one point in their life and have been unable to answer. The child’s question: “Who made thee,” is a relatively simple question, yet evokes a complicated and complex train of thought that will ultimately fail to provide to convincing explanation.
