Pebbles
“The Clod and the Pebble” by William Blake
My first thoughts about the title of the poem were that the poem was going to be about
components of the environment and land, pieces of the earth and soil as well as a rounded rock.
The search by love is not to thrill, it doesn’t care at all, and for someone else it holds no
difficulties and “Builds a Heaven in Hell’s despair.”
From the petite piece of clay sprang a sound of shuffling cow’s feet, but a pebble owned by
the stream sang over the “meters meet”, love only tries to satisfy itself and to tie another to it by its
happiness, it gains joy when someone experiences difficulties with it, and “builds a Hell in Heaven’s
despite.”
One of the most important phrases in the poem is the one in which the author describes
how love is so self infatuated and it doesn’t care about anyone else’s feelings but its own. Hence,
it creates a horrid feeling in a graceful place.
The quote describing the clod of clay used metaphor and symbolism. The metaphor was
used when the author gave the little piece of clay the characteristics of cattle by associating its
sounds and movements to one. The symbolism was used when Blake said the pebble “warbled
out these meters meet” is used to describe its codependence. It is worn down and experienced.
The author’s tone is one of innocence and experience. The relationship between love and
it’s two way bond and the indifference of the pebble and clay. The pebble has been weathered and
hardened, and the clay is soft and not yet molded by the world.
The shift in tone set in when William described the “pebble of the brook” and its
comparison to a clod. The tone shifted...
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