"Love seeketh not Itself to please , Nor 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 cattles 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 anothers loss of ease , And builds a Hell in Heavens despite ."
"The Clod & the Pebble is a dialogue poem with an unusual cast of characters. The dialogue takes place between a lump of mud and a tiny rock inanimate objects who happen to have strong and well-developed opinions on matters of human feeling. Things start in a happy, affirmative key: Love, we are told, is a state of selfless devotion, synonymous with kindness. To love is to live for someone else's happiness, to dwell together in a homemade paradise. But that's just one clod's opinion."
"In the third stanza, we hear a rebuttal from a pebble with a more hardhearted view of the matter: Love isn't about giving and caring, but about possessing and controlling. Clod love is nurturing; pebble love is driven by the pursuit of pleasure. Who is right? The pebble gets the last word, but that may not settle the matter."
A clod of clay and a pebble articulate opposing definitions of love. The clod describes love as selfless devotion that seeks another's happiness and builds comfort even in despair. The pebble counters that love seeks self-pleasure, binds another for its own delight, and produces harm even amid joy. The exchange contrasts nurturing and possessive impulses through personified natural objects. Simple, striking imagery and conversational voice dramatize the philosophical split. The concluding stance remains unresolved, inviting consideration of altruism versus self-interest without privileging either side.
Read at www.nytimes.com
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