The Lamb: A Poem by William Blake

This apparently simple poem from “Songs of Innocence” is the counterpart to the better-known “The Tyger” in “Songs of Experience”

The Lamb is one of the “Songs of Innocence” by William Blake (1757–1827). His collection entitled “Songs of Innocence and of Experience”, subtitled “Shewing the Two Contrary States of the Human Soul”, was published as a set of engraved plates between 1789 and 1794. Many of the “Innocence” poems have a counterpart in the “Experience” set, and The Lamb is one of these, being matched with the much better-known The Tyger.

The Lamb comprises two stanzas, each of ten lines, the full text being as follows:

Little Lamb, who made thee?
Dost thou know who made thee?
Gave thee life, and bid thee feed
By the stream and o’er the mead;
Gave thee clothing of delight,
Softest clothing, woolly, bright;
Gave thee such a tender voice,
Making all the vales rejoice?
Little Lamb, who made thee?
Dost thou know who made thee?