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William Blake was a visionary. He did not like the rational, materialistic world around him, but
dreamed of a world where imagination and feelings would be central to peoples lives.

Lead in
Today we accept it as natural that there are many theories, both scientific and religious, to
explain how the world was made. William Blake, like most of his contemporaries, believed that
God made the world. But what is God really like? Here is the first of Blakes two, very different,
depictions of God.
Songs of Innocence
The Lamb
By William Blake
Little Lamb who made thee1
Dost thou2 know who made thee
Gave thee life & bid thee feed3.
By the stream & o'er the mead4;
Gave thee clothing of delight,
Softest clothing wooly5 bright;
Gave thee such a tender voice,
Making all the vales6 rejoice!
Little Lamb who made thee
Dost thou know who made thee
Little Lamb I'll tell thee,
Little Lamb I'll tell thee!
He is called by thy7 name,
For he calls himself a Lamb:
He is meek8 & he is mild,
He became a little child:
I a child & thou a lamb,
We are called by his name.
Little Lamb God bless thee.
Little Lamb God bless thee.
William Blake, The Lamb, 1789
Glossary
1. thee: you
2. Dost thou: do you
6 Bid thee feed: told you to eat

Oer the mead: over the meadow,

field

3. wooly: woolly
4. vales: valleys
5. thy: your

8
9

meek: very quiet and gentle

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11
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2.
3.
4.
5.

Comprehension

Who is the poet addressing? What question does he ask the addressee?
What gifts has the Creator given the Lamb?
Underline the words in the first stanza that refer to where the lamb lives.
Who is the poet referring to as He in line 13?
In line 14 the poet says that the Creator calls himself a Lamb. Can you explain this
biblical reference?
6. What does the poet mean when he says in line 16 that the Creator became a little child?
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Analysis
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1. The poem is formed by a question and an answer. In which lines is the question posed
and in which lines is it answered?
2. Find descriptive details in the first stanza that appeal to the readers:
- sight: By the stream & oer the mead
- touch:
- hearing:..
3. A mood of gentle happiness is created in the first stanza. Underline the words that convey
this atmosphere. What kind of world is depicted in the poem?
4. In the second stanza the poet establishes a link between the Creator, the lamb and the poet
as a child.
a. In which lines are these links made?
b. What qualities do the Creator, lamb and the child (poet) share?
c. What does the Creator, who became the child Jesus, have in common with lambs?
5. Which of the following would you consider to be the man theme of the poem?
- The innocence and joy of the lamb and childhood reflect the true nature of God.
- God has created many wonderful things, including lambs and children.
- If man lives in close contact with nature, he becomes more godlike.
- Man can only truly experience God through nature.
- God is not responsible for all the evil that exists in the world. Evil is the result of
mans corruption.
6. How would you describe the language of the poem?
- Sophisticated
- Refined
- Childlike
- Simple
- Poetic
- Scientific
7. Examine the musical features of the poem.
a. Is the rhyming scheme regular?
b. Find examples of alliteration in the poem.
- Example: Little Lamb
c. Find examples of assonance in the poem.
- Example: By the stream & oer the mead
d. What are the prevailing consonant and vowel sounds? Would you consider them to be
harsh or gentle?
e. Underline examples of repetition in the poem. Repetition and a strong trochaic pattern
are typical of nursery rhymes and prayers. In what way is it appropriate that Blakes
poem should remind the reader both of a nursery rhyme and a prayer?

- Is God always gentle and helpful? Read this poem and find out what Blake thinks.
7. dare: to be brave enough to so something
- Songs of Experience
- The Tyger
1
Tyger Tyger, burning bright,
In the forests of the night;
What immortal hand or eye,
Could frame2 thy fearful3 symmetry4?

- In what distant deeps5 or skies.

- Burnt the fire of thine6 eyes?
- On what wings dare7 he aspire8?
- What the hand, dare seize9 the fire?
- And what shoulder, & what art10,
- Could twist the sinews11 of thy12 heart?
- And when thy heart began to beat,
- What dread13 hand? & what dread feet?
- What the hammer? what the chain,
- In what furnace was thy brain?
- What the anvil14? what dread grasp15,
- Dare its deadly terrors clasp16!
- When the stars threw down their spears
- And water'd heaven with their tears:
- Did he smile his work to see?
- Did he who made the Lamb make thee?
- Tyger Tyger burning bright,
- In the forests of the night:
- What immortal hand or eye,
- Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?
- Glossary
1. tyger: tiger
2. frame: make
3. fearful: frightening
4. symmetry: symmetrical form or shape
5. deeps: low, underground places
6. thine: your

8. aspire: rise up, fly high like Icarus

9. seize: to take hold of something suddently
and violently; here it means steal the fire
like Prometheus
10. art: skill, ability
11. sinews: muscles
12. dread: frightening
13. anvil: heavy iron block on which pieces of
metal are shaped using a hammer
14. grasp: the way you hold something
15. spears: poles with sharp ends, used as a
weapon in the past
- Comprehension
1. Who is the speaker addressing in the poem?
2. What question does he ask in the first stanza?
3. Where does the speaker think the Creator may have found the fire of the tigers eyes? (Line
5)
4. According to the fourth stanza, where was the tigers brain created?
5. How did the stars react to the creation of the tiger?
6. What question does the speaker ask in line 20?
- Analysis
1. The poem opens with a striking visual image of the tiger burning bright in the forest of
the night (lines 1-2). Explain the contrast contained in this image.
2. In line 4 the poet uses the word symmetry.
a. What do you think he is referring to?
- The geometrical design of the tigers face/body.
- The balance of beauty and danger in the tiger.
- The good and evil that the tiger may represent.
b. Why, in your opinion, does the poet describe the symmetry as fearful?
3. In the second stanza the poet refers to the fire in the tigers eyes.
a. What associations do you make with fire? Are they positive or negative or a mixture
of both?
b. Lines 7 and 8 make references to the legends of Icarus and Prometheus. What links
the tiger to the two legends? What characteristics does the Creator of the tiger share
with the two Greek heroes?
4. Does the third stanza focus on the Creators psychological profile or on his physical
attributes? Which word in line 12 underlines the potential danger of the tiger?
5. The fourth stanza suggests that the tiger was created in a forge. Which of the following
concepts do you associate with a forge?

- Light
- Dark
- Heat
- Cold
- Danger
- Security
- Fire
- Power
6. Identify the use of the personification in lines 17-18. How would you explain the reaction
of the stars when they witnessed the creation of the tiger?
- They wished to defend themselves against the dangers posed by the tiger.
- They felt insignificant and helpless before the magnificence of Gods new creation.
- They were saddened by the destructive nature of the tiger.
7. Why does the poet ask if the same Creator made both the lamb and the tiger? (line 20)
8. Apart from one word, the final stanza is identical to the first stanza. Which word has been
changed? Have the poets questions about the nature of the Creator been answered in the
course of the poem or has his perplexity been intensified?
9. Which of the following emotions does the tiger inspire in the poet? You can choose more
than one.
- Fear
- Horror
- Admiration
- Disbelief
- Awe
- Confusion
- Panic
10. Work out the rhyming scheme. Is it regular?
11. Find examples of alliteration and assonance.
12. Underline examples of repetition in the poem.
13.