The Clod and the Pebble: Notes

---

This poem provides two contrasting attitudes, one of selfless love for others, and the second, of Love as self-absorption and possessiveness. The first stanza seems to belong to the Songs of Innocence sequence, and the final stanza to Songs of Experience, and perhaps it is left to the reader to adjudicate between the two attitudes. However, as a poem in the Songs of Experience sequence, it is important that the final words are given to the selfish Pebble rather than to the down-trodden Clod, perhaps suggesting that it is the former's attitude which is seen to be the most insightful. An alternative view is that the poem presents both perspectives as equally valid, and mutually true.

Return to The Clod and the Pebble