William Blake, one of the greatest Romantic poets, was born in London and lived there most of his life. During his life he witnessed many things that affected him. He acknowledged the power of his country but the poverty prevalent there worried him. He did not go to school but he was taught at home using references from the Holy Bible. Blake was highly critical of the church the government and God because he thought that they could do more to end poverty. He was also disparaging of the injustices that were exposed upon society. He was a very religious man and had a great deal of influence from the Holy Bible. Perhaps the extensive theme of religion in most of his poems can be attributed to this fact. He believed that the soul was split up into two halves, good and bad. .
In the poem, "Lamb", Blake assumes the role of the teacher or prophet who will lead his people by means of simple catechisms to profound truths. Blake's picture of the lamb is apocalyptic. It is taken from the work in The New Testament called Apocalypse or The Book of Revelation. In chapter fourteen, Apostle John writing of those who "follow the lamb wither-so-ever he goes", relates the lamb to God's own impression. In this poem, the poet questions the creation of the lamb and through that he questions the existence of God himself. Both the questions have no finite answer and basically refer to a system of belief. This is probably an attempt on his part to dismiss religion and refer to God as a personal system of belief. The lamb also becomes a symbol of the deterministic delight of the divine. According to the Bible, Jesus was the Lamb of God. The lamb, thus, becomes a symbol of God and of the innocence of children as it is only in the children that God is most visible. Further, the visual impact of a musical note (&) and God's own beauty is portrayed and ca ptured in the rhythm of the lamb playing in the meads.
