Speaker and characters

The poem “The Lamb” by William Blake features two active characters – the speaker and the lamb – and one absent character – Jesus Christ, “The Lamb of God”.

The speaker

The speaker of the poem is - to some extent - similar to the narrator of a short story. Note that it is called a "speaker" (or a "lyrical I") in a poem - never "narrator". In “The Lamb”, the speaker addresses questions to the lamb, but he is also the one who answers them:

Little Lamb who made thee
Dost thou know who made thee (ll. 1-2)

The speaker’s identity is revealed at the end, when he states that he is a child:

I a child & thou a lamb,
We are called by his name. (ll. 18-19)

There is no indication of the speaker’s gender; the speaker can be seen as a generic and genderless figure. However, for ease of reference, we have referred to the speaker as “he”.

As a child, the speaker is genuinely curious and impressed by the lamb, for whom he uses endearing nouns and adjectives such as ...