The Clod and the Pebble Lyrics
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 metres 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"
About
From Songs of Experience, published 1794, this was one of the series of poems which explore 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. Most of the poems in the “Songs of Experience” category are matched by an idealistic portrayal in Songs of Innocence. The contrast is Blake’s method of social protest.
This poem follows In the folk tradition of answer songs, the proposition by the Clod in Verse 1 is replied to by the Pebble in Verse 3. Answer songs are generally from the opposite point of view. For example, from a woman to a man where the original was sung to the woman by the man.
Structure
The poem follows the structure of many of the collection, quatrains, that is four lined stanzas, The metrical rhythm is broadly iambic tetrameter, that is four metrical feet or iambs per lie, where a iamb is one unstressed followed by one stressed syllable. but varies considerably, for example in lines one and two of stanza two. There is an ABAB structured rhyme scheme in each stanza.
Language and Imagery
The ‘clod’ and the ‘pebble’ are personified representations of two views of love, one sincere and one cynical. It is for the reader to decide which is correct.
Q&A
Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning
- 2.The Clod and the Pebble
- 9.The Fly
- 10.The Angel
- 11.The Tyger
- 13.Ah! Sun-flower
- 14.The Lilly
- 17.London
- 19.Infant Sorrow
- 20.A Poison Tree
- 24.A Cradle Song
- 25.The Schoolboy
- 26.To Tirzah