What is the comparison between Tom and the lamb? (MEG 102) (SONGS OF INNOCENCE AND SONGS OF EXPERIENCE)

In "The Chimney Sweeper" from Songs of Innocence, Tom Dacre is compared to a lamb. The poem begins with Tom being sold by his father to work as a chimney sweeper. The child's hair is shaved off, and he is sent to work in a dangerous environment. Tom has a dream in which he sees all of his fellow sweepers, including himself, locked in black coffins. An angel then arrives and frees the children, leading them into a green field where they are able to bathe in a river and then dry themselves in the sun. The poem ends with the angel telling Tom that if he is good and works hard, he will be able to join the other children in heaven.

The comparison between Tom and the lamb comes when the angel tells Tom that he is a "good boy" and that "he is like a lamb," which is a symbol of innocence in Christian iconography. The comparison is used to contrast Tom's innocence and purity with the cruelty and injustice of the society that has allowed him to be sold into a life of forced labor. Like a lamb, Tom is innocent and vulnerable, but unlike the lamb, he has been mistreated and abused by the very people who are supposed to protect him.