hi. I had to analyze William Blakes poem, "The Clod and the Pebble", for my Language Arts class. I got that the meaning is:
The clod represents a person who has to work in life, and does not take thing for granted. The pebble is snotty and takes things for granted.
What do you think?
This is the poem:

The Clod and the Pebble
by William Blake

"Love seeketh not itself to please,
Nor for itself hath any care,
But for another gives its ease,
And builds a heaven in hell's despair."

So sung a little clod of clay,
Trodden with the cattle's feet;
But a pebble of the brook
Warbled out these meters meet:

"Love seeketh only Self to please,
To bind another to its delight,
Joys in another's loss of ease,
And builds a hell in heaven's despite."

Thank you!

I dunno. Could be he other way around. What is heaven's despite? And why do poets think heaven is a one-syllable word, anyway?

Yeah, the clod is working to make others happy- the pebble is saying 'it's all about ME!'

I think 'heaven's despite' is 'heaven's disapproval.'

pam

I thihk heaven's despite is another way of saying where heaven should be.

Another way to look at this:

The clod represents someone who is experiencing true love or who still has a utopian idea of love.

The pebble represents someone who knows that love can hurt. That love is often falsely assumed. The pebble is not necessarily being snotty or ungrateful, but just takes a more pessimistic view of love.

And also think- what's the difference between the clay- soft, like mud, and the pebble- hard, not easily worn down.

pam

yeah so if the clod is soft and malleable then surely it has yet to come ot its own conclusion about love?

however the pebble has gone through life and like the river life has worn it down so now through experience it is somewhat hardened to the idea that love is selfless?

anyone got any idea why blake mentions the cattle treading through the clay?could it be the influences of its parents?

The clod is on the edge of the brook where the cattle come down to drink and their hooves cut the ground up, the pebble will be just in the water where the brook washes the mud away. You only get clods in gateways, along tracks or at watering points where the cattle all trample the same ground. Every where else will have a covering of grass. (This is England we're talking about, not too hot and wet enough for good growth of grass)

I am doing Blakes poem the lamb and the teacher gave a clue that William Blake is a very religious man so use that when considering his meanings.

And you feel that is incorrect? I don't see a question here, I mean.

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