A examining of Bill Blake’s “The Lamb” delivers forth a very spiritual and obvi-ously pastoral message in a traditional (for the era) Christian motif. Blake effectively uses a number of techniques of harmony and economy which set forth and amplify the sense of spirituality and innocence. His use of repetition, metaphor, and succinct gentle illusions supply the reader which has a compelling devotional and contemplative work that sounds all the prayer as poem. Usually the repetitions of poetic lines will in the least add emphasis and at many provide a jarring counterpoint for the desired fluidity of movement.
In the case of “The Lamb” the repetition offers almost a sing-song idiotic cadence which will quickly models the strengthen by starting the initial stanza: “Little Lamb who have made thee Dist thou know who made thee…” (Lines 1, 2) After that he reinforces the starting by closing the stanza: “Little Lamb who made thee Dost thou understand who manufactured thee” (Lines 10, 11) Combined with the very careful rhyming throughout the stanza, “feed-mead”, “delight-bright” and “voice-rejoice” this produces even more a soft melody reminiscent of a lullaby, together with the repeti-tion environment forth temporarily halt and leisure.
The method continues in the second stanza, which has a cumulative result, as the opening issue is soon to be answered: “Little lamb I’ll inform thee “Little lamb Items tell thee…” (Lines 13, 14) Once again, with probably less very careful rhyming throughout the second stanza, “name, Lamb”, “mild, child” and turned “lamb, name” the plan is still powerful because of the pattern, placing “name-lamb-mild-child-lamb-name”, followed by the non-rhyme “we are called simply by his name” which sets up the closing “answer”: “Little Lamb The almighty bless thee. “Little Lamb God bless thee.
” (Lines twenty one, 22) Metaphorically the “little Lamb” is of course mention of the Jesus Christ, “For he telephone calls himself a Lamb” (Line 16), the Lamb of God. Such as the little lamb Jesus Christ “is meek and he is mild” (Line 17). Jesus Christ, delivered unto The Virgin Martha “became just a little child” (Line 18) as well, and both lamb as well as the narrator are children of and made inside the image of Christ: “I children & thou a lamb We are known as by call him by his name. ” (Lines 19, 20) Additional metaphors exist; who is it, the narrator requests the Lamb who provided you your life, food and water?
In respect to Christian belief and Catholic routine “life” on its own comes from “the body and blood of Christ”. The theme carries further with all the concept of Jesus Christ as the Good Shepherd eternally vigilant in protecting his innocent head of sheep and lambs. Blake makes an overall splendor through terminology, absent any thorns, baby wolves or frightening storms. There is not any “fire and brimstone”, lamb about to end up being placed on the sac-rificial change, or cowering from invading predators.
Instead there is “clothing of delight” which is the “softest garments wooly bright” and of course the gentle tone of the lamb which makes every within experiencing “rejoice”. Blake uses these techniques in making a masterwork of brevity, showing the theory, particularly appropriate to prose and poetry, that less is often more. In a scant twenty two lines they can create a quite strong image of harmless beauty inside the greater thought of God’s creation as well as safety (“God bless thee”).
Intentional or not the poem gives not merely comfort but strength. The world as Blake knew it absolutely was certainly filled with destruction, ugliness and doubt as much, or maybe more so than any other time in history. There is also a reassurance, produced by the repetition and rhythm, as well as a sense of relaxation, of slowing and showing in the face of frantic uncertainty. Your life of course is usually anything but a bucolic perspective free of malevolence, and unfortunately for every lamb there is a wolf.
Blake is not so impaired as to not find there is always a duality to our lives, a balance between the poles of calm and fury, purity and bad. Blake provides produced the counterpoint too, with “The Tyger”, as well from his “Songs of Experience”. In this article he requires the question “did he who also made the Lamb help to make thee? ” (Tyger, Range 20). By doing so he causes the reader to face the timeless question of how both could be created by the same God only to are in contradiction to one another. As with any kind of metaphysical problem there is no very clear answer, and likely there must not be.
It is the identity, reflection and articulation with the question that matters. There is no getting away the existence of The Tyger or any number of predators and for what reason that they exist person can only guess. William Blake has presented his viewers with much to contemplate as they make their supposition. Works Mentioned Blake, Bill. “The Lamb”, “The Tyger”. Songs Of Innocence and of Experience, replicate Z. London, uk: Catherine and William Blake, 1789. Functions available in whole at http://www. rc. umd. edu/rchs/reader/tygerlamb. html
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