The speaker opens the first stanza by posing a question directly to the titular animal, asking who made him and following immediately by asking if the lamb itself knows the identity of his creator. The bulk of the first stanza proceeds with this line of questioning by narrowing the focus down to the life of a lamb, pondering if the animal is aware of who created it so that it could feed by the stream and over the mead, that it might enjoy the pleasure of soft wool protection from the elements, supplied its sweet gentle voice. The stanza concludes with a repetition of the opening inquiry.
The second stanza reveals the framework of the poem’s construction: the first asks a question and the second provides the answer. The speaker opens this stanza by again directly addressing the lamb but this time insisting that he will provide that answer. The next two lines reveal that the verse is allegorical, mystic and religious in theme: he who created the lamb is also known as the lamb and he is an entity of meek and mild nature who transformed into a little child just as a lamb is a child to the sheep who produced it. The speaker asserts that he is himself a child as is the lamb and that together they are both called by the name of the same creator. The poem draws to a close with a repetition of the same line: “Little Lamb God bless thee.”
