Page 272 - DENG405_BRITISH_POETRY

Unit 26: William Blake: Songs of Innocence and Experience

In the words of Mr. Justin Timberlake, “Bring it to the chorus!” That’s right, you might be shocked Notes
to learn, but the “Songs of Innocence” are actually structured like…songs! These lines repeat word
for word the first two lines of the poem. Everybody sing along now.

Stanza II Summary
Lines 11-12
Little lamb, I’ll tell thee;
Little lamb, I’ll tell thee:
Having just rhymed the one-syllable “thee” with, um, “thee,” Blake doubles down and does it
again. The speaker announces that he will tell the lamb who its creator is. For those of you keeping
track at home, here’s the box score for lines 9-12: “Little Lamb”: 3, “thee”: 4. “Thee” takes the lead!

Lines 13-14
He is called by thy name,
For He calls Himself a Lamb
Having promised to say outright who the lamb’s creator is, the speaker now starts talking in riddles
that avoid a clear answer. The creator, he says, shares the same name as the lamb. And what is the
lamb’s name? In fact, the lamb’s name is “Lamb,” and so is the creator’s.

Lines 15-16
He is meek, and He is mild,
He became a little child.
OK, we can put it off no longer: the Lamb is a symbol for Jesus Christ. In John 29 of the Bible, Jesus
is called “The Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” What this poem about innocence
doesn’t mention is that Christ is a like a lamb because lambs get sacrificed. Gulp.
In the English Christian tradition, Jesus has been called “meek” and “mild” for the way he submitted
to God’s will and for his gentle treatment of sinful humans. He “became a little child” when he was
born into the world (which Christians celebrate on Christmas).
Blake’s poem seems to borrow from the words of Englishman Charles Wesley, who published a
hymn called “Gentle Jesus, Meek and Mild” in 1742. Charles’s brother, John Wesley, founded the
Methodist Church. The hymn includes the line, “Lamb of God, I look to Thee.” If you read the
whole thing, you’ll see just how much Blake’s Songs of Innocence and Experience resemble church
songs.

Lines 17-18
I a child, and thou a lamb,
We are called by His name.
The speaker reveals himself to be a child. And the lamb…is still a lamb. In fact, all the characters in
this poem can be viewed as lambs: child, real lamb, and Jesus. They can also be seen as children –
children of God. Got that?

Lines 19-20
Little lamb, God bless thee!
Little lamb, God bless thee!

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