Children in Blakes Poetry The use of children is a prominent theme in a number of William Blakes poems. It is apparent in reading such poems as, The Lamb, The Little Black Boy, and The Chimney Sweeper, that Blake sees the world through the eyes of a child and embraces the innocence of the young. Blakes poem The Lamb, from Songs of Innocence really illustrates the innocence and purity of a young child. The persona in the poem is of a young child. The child questions the lamb as to where he came from and asks, Little Lamb who made thee? / Dost thou know who made thee? (9,10) The child is expecting the Lamb to answer him but it is obvious to the reader that the Lamb cant talk. When the child receives no answer, he decides that hell tell the lamb where he came from. He says, Little Lamb, Ill tell thee! (12). The child says:He is called by thy nameFor he calls himself a Lamb;He is meek & mild,He became a little child;I a child & thou a lamb,We are called by his name. (13,18)The child really shows that his innocence here. The Lamb is being referred to as Jesus, the Lamb of God. The child is saying that that Lamb, Jesus and the child are all the same. What the boy does not understand, because he is a child and so innocent, is that the Lamb will be sacrificed, and the child will die, just like Jesus did when He was crucified. The Little Black Boy from Songs of Innocence is another poem that illustrates the innocence of children. The poem is written from the persona of a little black boy who has been told that being white is better then being black. The little boy says:And I am black, but O! my soul is white;White as an angel is the English child;But I am black as if bereavd of light. (2,4)Here the little boy is saying that even though he may be black on the outside, he believes he has the soul of a white child. He thinks that white children are like angles and black children are black because they are deprived of the light. Th...
