The Lamb
William Blake, Songs of Innocence (1789)
A gentle companion poem to "The Tyger," asking the lamb who made it.
Download the handwriting worksheet (PDF)Printable, ruled for handwriting: copy it by hand, then type it here.
About this text
William Blake wrote "The Lamb" for his 1789 collection Songs of Innocence, which he engraved, printed, and hand-colored himself rather than sending to a conventional publisher. He later paired it with "The Tyger" in Songs of Experience (1794), and the two poems are almost always read together as a contrasting pair — one asking who made a gentle creature, the other asking who made a fearsome one.
The poem repeats its opening question, "Little Lamb who made thee," twice at the start and again as a refrain, framing an answer in between that identifies the Lamb with Christ. Blake's original spelling and punctuation, including the ampersands in place of "and," are kept in most reprintings, including this one, so copying it exactly preserves a small piece of his own habits from the original engraved plates.
What to watch for
- 2 semicolons: a semicolon joins two complete thoughts that belong together, a pause longer than a comma but shorter than a period.
- 2 colons: a colon points ahead to what explains or completes the first half of the sentence.
- 2 exclamation and question marks: ask the child how the sentence should sound when read aloud, and why the writer chose that mark.
- 3 apostrophes: sort each one into possession (the shepherd's staff) or a missing letter (don't = do not).
- Capital letters in the middle of a sentence: Lamb, I'll, God. Ask why each one is capitalized before typing it.
- Old-fashioned words: thee, thou, o'er, thy. These are easy to "correct" by accident into modern spelling, so copy them exactly as written.
- Longest word: "clothing" (8 letters). Try spelling it aloud once before reaching it.
- 20 lines averaging about 5 words each. A comfortable line length for a single sitting.
Full text (reference)
Little Lamb who made thee
Dost thou know who made thee
Gave 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 thee
Dost thou know who made thee
Little Lamb I'll tell thee,
Little Lamb I'll tell thee!
He is called by thy name,
For 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 thee.
Little Lamb God bless thee.