The Lamb: Poet & Context

The Lamb: Poet & Context

Poet: William Blake

  • William Blake was a British poet and a visionary mystic, who wrote during the Romantic period.
  • Besides a poet, he was also a painter and printmaker, often integrating his poems with his artworks.
  • Known for his idiosyncratic beliefs, Blake was deeply critical of the Church and institutionalized religion.
  • He was largely unrecognized during his lifetime, but is celebrated today as a seminal figure in the Romantic Age.

Context of the Poem: The Lamb

  • “The Lamb” is a part of a collection called “Songs of Innocence”, which Blake published in 1789.
  • The collection, along with its later counterpart “Songs of Experience”, takes a philosophical look at concepts of innocence and experience.
  • “The Lamb” symbolizes the innocence and purity of a divine figure, commonly associated with Jesus Christ in Christian beliefs.
  • The poem was written during the Industrial Revolution era, a time when people were moving away from rural life to cities, which influenced Blake’s ideas about childhood, nature, and the divine.

Role of the Poem within Songs of Innocence and Experience

  • In the larger context of the two books of poems, ‘The Lamb’ represents the spirit of Innocence.
  • The poem’s counterpart in “Songs of Experience” is “The Tyger”, which symbolizes experience and the loss of innocence.
  • The two poems together present two facets of the divine - one gentle and peaceful, represented by the lamb; the other powerful and potentially destructive, symbolized by the tiger.

Socio-Religious and Political Context

  • Blake was deeply against the exploitation of child labour which was rampant during the Industrial Revolution. His poems often highlighted innocence and purity of children, as seen in “The Lamb”.
  • Despite Blake’s personal disdain for formal religion, his poetry is rife with biblical symbolism. He often used this to criticize the Church and state institutions.
  • The themes of innocence and experience in Blake’s poetry can also be seen as implicit criticism of the socio-political conditions of his time. His ideas often aligned with revolutionary thoughts prevalent during the Romantic Age.

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