The CLOD and the PEBBLE

Hummingbird Featured Poem. The CLOD and the PEBBLE

By William Blake

“Love seekth not itself to please,
Not for itself hath any care;
But for another gives its ease,
And builds a heaven in Hells despair.”

So sang a little Clod of Clay,
Trodden with the cattle 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.”

Curator’s Note. Here you have a dialogue about love between two unusual characters: a lump of mud and a tiny rock. There’s definitely the feeling of a children’s storybook - something charming in these verses - belting out views on love, from sweetness to disillusionment. LB