"Little Lamb" Page 274, Poem 204

The Lamb, by William Blake, is characterized by frequent rhetorical questions. "Little Lamb, who made thee?" (1) appears multiple times throughout the poem, and the repetition serves to emphasize the importance of this question and chooses a direction for the poem to continue. Blake goes on to describe some of the characteristics of the lamb that the "maker" gave it.  The stanza is ended with two more rhetorical questions that set the topic for the next stanza.  "Dost thou know who made thee?" (2) is another rhetorical question that appears more than once and restates the original rhetorical question. The rhetorical questions are all placed within the first stanza, and it leads the reader to believe that the questions will be answered in the second stanza.

The second stanza is characterized by repetition.  "Little Lamb, I'll tell thee," (11) is an example of this repetition, and it adds a certain joyful and excited tone to the work.  This device gives the impression that finding out one's maker is exciting, and not at all worthy of apprehension.  The author then reveals the maker to be God, because the Bible often refers to God as "The Lamb" and it tells of the nativity scene, which is also referenced in the poem. "Little Lamb, God bless thee"(19). This line is repeated twice at the end of the poem, and the repetition creates a peaceful and comforting tone with which to end the poem.

I enjoyed the simplicity and forward nature of this poem and its optimistic tone. Excessive analysis is not necessary, and the simplicity of the poem compounds well with the simplicity of the message.