The Clod and the Pebble by William Blake

S
1. LOVE
  1. is portrayed from two drastically different point of views
    1. The Clod
      1. which is innocent and naive and believes that love is a wonderful thing, because it is completely selfless
    2. The Pebble
      1. which is experienced and deceived by previous love stories. According to it, love is a horrible thing because it is based on selfishness
T
1. S
  1. The poem is written in a sort of chronological order
    1. The clod represents innocence which implies that it is young. This is also implied by the fact that the clod's point of view is put at the beginning of the poem, in the first stanza.
    2. The pebble represents experience which implies that it is older than the clod. This is also implied by the fact that the pebble's point of view comes after the clod's, in the third stanza.
      1. This will make an older person think about when he was young ( like the clod ) and perspective he now has of love, will compare the two and will feel pity for both the clod and the pebble
        This will make a younger reader think about his future disappointments (wether he will become like the pebble) in love and consider his actual perspective of love. He will therefore pity both the clod and the pebble.
  2. The change of the tone takes place in the second stanza, when the narrator changes the point of view from the clod's to the pebble's. This is enhanced by the use of the word "But" which is the turning point in terms of themes. The fact that it is placed right in the middle of the second stanza which is itself in the middle of the poem emphasizes the idea that both view points are extremes and that love is partially one or another.
  3. The poem is composed of three quatrains with ABAB rhyme scheme though in stanza 2 line 1&3 do not rhyme, this concords with the change of perspective to show that the clod and the pebble's opinions diverge
2. L
  1. The religious references to "Heaven" and "Hell" echoes the bible which makes us understand that love can touch anybody
  2. The alliteration in "little clod of clay", the fact that it "sings" while "trodden with the cattle's feet" makes the clod seem more vulnerable.
  3. The use of repetition with variation between the first and third stanzas highlights the distinction between these two perspectives of love
3. I
  1. In the poem, the clod of clay and the pebble are personnified with the word "sung". This makes makes the association with humans easier to notice.. The fact that a clod is malleable emphasizes its vulnerability and innocence. The fact that the pebble is hard implies that it is a protective shell to shield it from love disappointments, which also implies that it is experienced. Love is equally personified by the use of verbs like "seeketh or gives" which highlights the fact that love ressembles us and is therefore unpredictable, meaning it cannot only be good or bad.
4. M
  1. The movement and rythme of the poem are mostly fluid because of the rhyme scheme (ABAB), the even number of verses (12) and the regular number of syllables (8,8,8,9 in stanza 1 - 8,7,7,8 in stanza 2 - 8,9,8,9 in stanza 3)
5. S
  1. The alliteration in "little clod of clay" highlights the vulnerability of the clod.
  2. A number of sharp "z" sounds , especially in stanza 3 because the pebble is hard and despises love.
I
1. the poem's mood
  1. The CLOD
    1. in the first part of the poem which expresses the clod's point of view, the mood is quite joyful, as it "sings" and talks of love as if it were the most incredible thing in the world
  2. The PEBBLE
    1. in the second part of the poem which expresses the pebble's point of view the tone is quite melancholic as the words are "warbled out". The overall impression is that the pebble is tired of his failures (in love) and seems to have given up. The overall mood is nostalgic..
2. emotions the reader feels
  1. PITY
    1. The CLOD
      1. We feel pity for the clod because it feels so joyful, naive and vulnerable and that we know that he is too optimistic never to be deceived and disappointed. This enhances our sympathy towards it.
    2. The PEBBLE
      1. We pity the pebble because it is likely that the reason why he hates love so much is because he was disappointed so many times that he gave up.
P
1. Purpose
  1. This poem was written during the romantic period. William Blake might have chosen this particular subject because it was realistically appealing. He also maybe wanted to share his own diverging opinions and experiences.
2. Theme
  1. LOVE
    1. experience
      1. By opposing two very different and extreme point of views, Blake makes the reader understand that love is not only selfish or selfless, sometimes it can be both. He also implies that love is unpredictable, that it can sometimes be horrible as well as it can be wonderful.
      2. represented by the Pebble "of the brook" which implies that it is experienced as it has travelled for a long time down an endless stream. Physically it is hard like a stone-heart.
    2. innocense
      2. represented by the clod of clay which is "trodden by the cattle's feet", which implies that it is malleable, so naive and vulnerable.
S
1. In the Poem "The Clod and the Pebble" by William Blake, love i s portrayed from two drastically different point of views: the clod's and the pebble's. The Pebble is experienced and has been deceived many times by previous love stories. According to it, love is a horrible thing because it is based on selfishness. On the other hand, the clod is innocent and naive, it believes that love is a wonderful thing because it is completely selfless.The poem was written during the Romantic Period which implies that William Blake might have chosen this particular subject due to its realistic appeal. While the theme of experience is explored through the character of the pebble, innocence is represented by the clod. The difference between them is that the clod is malleable, which directly suggests its vulnerability, naiveness and innocence, while the clod is hard which implies that he was deceived so many times he decided to build a protective shell and hate love, proof of its "experience".
2. in the first part of the poem which expresses the clod's point of view, the mood is quite joyful, as it "sings" and talks of love as if it were the most incredible thing in the world, whereas in the second part of the poem which expresses the pebble's point of view the tone is quite melancholic as the words are "warbled out". The overall impression is that the pebble is tired of his failures (in love) and seems to have given up. The overall mood is nostalgic. Both characters make us pity them: we feel pity for the clod because it feels so joyful, naive and vulnerable and that we know that he is too optimistic never to be deceived and disappointed while We pity the pebble because it is likely that the reason why he hates love so much is because he was disappointed so many times that he gave up.
3. The poem is composed of three quatrains with ABAB rhyme scheme though in stanza 2 line 1&3 do not rhyme, this concords with the change of perspective to show that the clod and the pebble's opinions diverge, when the narrator changes the point of view from the clod's to the pebble's. This is also highlighted by the use of the word "But" which is the turning point . The fact that it is placed right in the middle of the second stanza which is itself in the middle of the poem emphasizes the idea that both view points are extremes and that love is partially one or another.The religious references to "Heaven" and "Hell" echoes the bible which makes us understand that love can touch anybody.The alliteration in "little clod of clay", the fact that it "sings" while "trodden with the cattle's feet" makes the clod seem more vulnerable.The use of repetition with variation between the first and third stanzas highlights the the distinction between these two perspectives of love.
4. By opposing two very different and extreme point of views, Blake makes the reader understand that love is not only selfish or selfless, sometimes it can be both. He also implies that love is unpredictable, that it can sometimes be horrible as well as it can be wonderful.

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The Clod and the Pebble by William Blake

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