The Lamb

William Blake(1757–1827)

Songs of Innocence, 1789

Little Lamb who made theeDost thou know who made theeGave thee life & bid thee feed,By the stream & o'er the mead;Gave thee clothing of delight,Softest clothing wooly bright;Gave thee such a tender voice,Making all the vales rejoice:Little Lamb who made theeDost thou know who made thee

Little Lamb I'll tell thee,Little Lamb I'll tell thee:He is called by thy nameFor he calls himself a Lamb.He is meek & he is mild,He became a little child:I a child & thou a lamb,We are called by his name.Little Lamb God bless theeLittle Lamb God bless thee.

The complete Songs of Innocence (1789) poem from the engraved copy of 1826, taken from the facsimile transcribed on English Wikisource. No emendation was made.

Public domainThis poem is in the public domain. You may read it, copy it, recite it and publish it without asking anyone.

About the poem

«The Lamb» opens the Songs of Innocence (1789) and is the exact reverse of «The Tyger», which Blake would place five years later in the Songs of Experience. A child asks a little lamb who made it, who gave it its wool, its voice, its meadow; and in the second stanza answers itself.

The answer is sweet and clear: it was made by the one who is also called a Lamb — Christ, who became a child and meek — so that the child, the lamb and their maker merge into one. Where «The Tyger» asks, without answer, whether the same god makes what is terrible, «The Lamb» replies with all the certainty of innocence.

El verso se queda en inglés. Traducirlo de paso sería cambiar la obra por una paráfrasis de la obra.