Have you been yearning for an exciting analysis of The Clod and the Pebble by William Blake? You are at last in luck. We think you’ll find our analysis to be the most enjoyable analysis you’ll find anywhere else.
The Clod and the Pebble analysis: Background
The Clod and the Pebble by William Blake is a poem appearing in the book, Songs of Innocence and of Experience. Blake wrote, illustrated, and published this book in 1789.
Songs of Innocence and of Experience is divided into two halves. The first half is about Innocence, and the second half is about Experience. The two concepts for William Blake represented two polar opposites of the soul. Rather than define them or analyze them, it was Blakes intent to evoke them.
Traditional western morality often views the world through the lens of good versus evil.
Yet, William Blake goes beyond this simple view. Instead of talking about good versus evil, he talks about Innocence versus Experience. He does not try to say which is better than the other, only that both exist and are a part of us.
Innocence represents our childhood state. Blake associates it with spontaneity, submissiveness, and the imagination. Experience, on the other hand, represents adulthood. Blake associates it with calculation, aggressiveness, and authority.
The Clod and the Pebble presents to the reader two different lenses on love. We see love first through the lens of Innocence, and then through the lens of experience.
This explains why the poem reveals so much about William Blake’s two concepts. The goal of our analysis should be to reveal as much as we can about William Blake’s dual conception of love.
The Clod and the Pebble analysis: First Stanza
“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.”
Our analysis of The Clod and the Pebble by William Blake first turns to the beginning stanza of the poem.
This stanza seeks to define love in a particular way. Love is described as a selfless act. Love isn’t about pleasing oneself, but pleasing the object of the love. Take a minute to reflect on what this suggests. If you love someone, then you should want to do things for them. You devote yourself to making them happy.
So your work increases and another’s decreases. If you truly love the other person this should please you.
We’re told that this is how to build a “Heaven in Hell’s despair.” But how can this be? Consider a person’s role in society. We all have to work to get by. Working isn’t always easy, right? Who looks forward to Monday morning? Life can be quite hard.
Yet, what if we do this work for another? How about a parent that works to provide for their family? Working to provide for others can be satisfying. Or another example, consider a small child that draws a picture for his or her mother.
Love draws us out. Often we want to do just about anything for the person we love. Not because we want something from them, but simply for the joy that it brings us.
Work is never easy. Labor is never easy. But when work and labor are done for someone we love, it can become a joy. This is why William Blake suggests hell can be made into heaven.
The Clod and the Pebble analysis: Second Stanza
So sung a little Clod of Clay
Trodden with the cattle’s feet,
But a Pebble of the brook
Warbled out these metres meet:
In our analysis of The Clod and The Pebble by William Blake, we will now look at the second stanza.
Imagine that The Clod and The Pebble were an old fashioned scale. Innocence is on one side, and experience is on the other. Between these two is the pivot upon which both balance. This second stanza is that pivot.
The first stanza defines love as a selfless act. The third stanza, as we will see, defines love as a selfish act. The second stanza is a pivot between these two views.
So who is offering us the view of selfless love? It’s a Clod of Clay. Who is this Clod of Clay? Well, it’s a Clod of Clay that’s been trodden on by cattle’s feet.
What are some features of clay? It’s soft and pliable. It can easily be molded to fit whatever need arises. It’s inherently unformed. It holds the potential to become anything. These are all features that suggest to the reader Innocence.
Now who offers us the viewpoint of selfish love? It’s a Pebble from a brook. What are the features of a pebble? It’s hard. While the world of the brook changes form ceaselessly around it, the pebble refuses to change. Like a baked cookie, the pebble holds no unknown potentials. It’s a finished and done object.
What do the different features of a Clod of Clay versus a Pebble suggest to our analysis? This is an important question.
The Clod and the Pebble analysis: Third Stanza
“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.”
Now in our analysis of The Clod and The Pebble by William Blake, we will examine the third stanza.
In this case, we are to see love as something that takes from others. It’s not hard to imagine a man that loves a woman and basically want to take from her. For William Blake, we think this is the type of selfish love he has in mind.
Love can be more selfish than anything else. We often expect so much of the person we love. We often want all their time and attention. We want them to agree with us on all things. We want them to swear allegiance to us. We are pleased when they do things for us. Love can be more selfish than anything else.
But then what of the other person. Consider the case of a man turning his lover into a kind of object that’s there only to serve him. Or consider the case of a woman that uses her man only as a breadwinner so she can have more freedom. These are both adult and selfish forms of love.
While love can be beautiful and heavenlike. But if we are not careful selfish side of love can make a hell of another’s life. We constantly demand more and more of them until their life becomes intolerable. This heavenly love builds for someone a hell on earth.
The Clod and the Pebble analysis: Summary and Interpretation
Our analysis of The Clod and the Pebble by William Blake will now take what we’ve learned so far and summarize and interpret it.
We don’t think William Blake intends to say there are two separate forms of love. We think instead he wants to suggest there are two different aspects to love. Love can be selfless and selfish at the same time.
A simple view of the world says some things are good, and some things are evil. You should stay stick to the good things and stay away from the evil things. William Blake’s view is much more nuanced.
He suggests that love contains the seeds of Innocence and of Experience. Both these aspects of love are both intrinsic to each other. They are interwoven and inextricable.
Consider if everyone’s love were entirely selfless? This would turn all of us into docile slaves a the mercy of others. Consider if love were entirely selfish? We’d all be constantly trying to victimize each other. William Blake suggests that when our love is both selfish and selfless, it will be balanced. Love is giving and receiving.
If we understand this dual aspect of love, then we gain insight into William Blake’s deeper views. Just as love contains two aspects, one of innocence and one of experience, so do our souls. Thus, life isn’t about choosing good or evil. Instead, it is about finding the right balance between Innocence and Experience. Both of these aspects of ourselves define us, just as they both define love.
We hope you enjoyed our analysis of The Clod and the Pebble by William Blake. We hope it stimulates you to find your own interpretation.
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