A lamb is a gentle and meek creature that is both daring and submissive. A lamb is very much like a child. In "The Lamb," William Blake creates a childlike tone through a very songlike form and structure. What this does is give the poem an innocent view, more in the first stanza than in the second. Through the use of apostrophe, the entire poem being an apostrophe, William Blake attributes human qualities to a lamb, the lamb being the listener, the child being the speaker. Throughout the entire poem the lamb and the child are interchangeable, the child is a lamb, the lamb is a child, it's a metaphor that extends throughout the poem.
             William Blake uses symbolic language to create extended metaphors about the lamb. He talks about the creator of the lamb giving it "clothing of delight." Delight is obviously not a clothing, but it is an extended metaphor that refers back to the lamb. The creator gave the lamb, or the child, delight and happiness. In historical context, the biblical figure Jesus referred to himself as the lamb. Jesus was a giver, a giver of light, hope, and joy. The exchangeable position of the lamb and the child is made clear when the author states the creator had given the lamb "such a tender voice." Children are known for their gentle voices, lambs are not.
             The child is in this poem is asking a simple question, innocently to a lamb. He asks the lamb if it knows who made it, who gave the lamb its wool and its voice. In the second stanza the child is almost reciting what he has learned in Sunday school. He explains to the lamb about Jesus, who called himself the lamb. He tells him how Jesus was just like a lamb, using symbolic language, comparing Jesus to a child. Jesus was like a child, for he loved children. Jesus had that innocence of a child. This creates a third connection, a child is like a lamb, Jesus is like a child.
             "I a child & thou a lamb," with this sen...