From Blake’s Songs of Innocence. published in 1794, this was one of the series of poems which present an idealised world, in contrast to the harsh realities of late 18th and early 19th Century life during the time of King George III, known — ironically given the terrible social conditions of the time — as the Romantic Era. Each poem in the “Songs of Innocence” category is matched by a grim portrayal in Songs of Experience. The contrast is Blake’s method of social protest.

Blake follows poetic convention by setting the scene for his collection. He assumes the persona of a piper and shepherd who encounters a child. The child hears the music, asks for a song and then for it to be written down. This sets the scene of an archaic pastoral idyll, the idealised world that contrasts with the terrible reality. It also places the focus on childhood, and the innocent joy denied so many abused, impoverished children in Blake’s time.

Structure
This poem consists of five quatrains, that is four-lined stanzas. The rhyme scheme in stanzas 1 and 4 follow the traditional ABAB pattern, while stanzas 2, 3, and 5 use an ABCB pattern.

The metre is trochaic tetrameters, that is four metrical feet or trochees per line, where a trochee is one stressed followed by one unstressed syllable.

Language and Imagery
The poet uses simple language to express complex ideas. The child is an allegorical representation of innocence. He asks for a song about a Lamb, which represents Jesus Christ, the spotless Lamb of Christianity, as described in John’s Gospel 1:29. This idea is developed by Blake in his poem The Lamb. The concepts are complex and relevant to adults as well as children.