This presentation was by Rania. The Clod and The Pebble in Transitional Period.

1. The Transitional Period
The Pre-Romantics
William blake
The clod and the pebble
By Rania Al-Ghamdi

2. Pre-Romanticism
The Transitional Era
The term Pre-romantic “defines the
sensibilities and spiritual states,
trends, ideas and forms that
developed at the end of the
Neoclassical Period.”
The Pre romantics did not constitute a
school of thought. They were a group
of writers that were influenced by the
new trends, feelings, of the end of the

3. William blake
 William blake (28 November 1757 –
12 August 1827) was an English
poet, painter, and printmaker.
Largely unrecognized during his
lifetime, Blake is now considered a
seminal figure in the history of both
the poetry and visual arts of
the Romantic Age
 His paintings and poetry have been
characterized as part of both
the Romantic movement and "Pre-
Romantic", for its large appearance
in the 18th century.

4.  Much of his poetry has hidden
meaning that are hard to
understand. He did not believe in
the reality of matter, or in the power
of earthly rulers, or in punishment
after death.
 His best known works include
Songs of Innocence (1787) and
Songs of Experience (1794). The
second is darker and heavier than
the first; but it does contain some

5. The Clod and The Pebble
by william blake
Love seeketh not itself to please,
"
Nor for itself hath any care,
But for another gives its ease,
And builds a Heaven in Hell's despair."
So sung a little Clod of Clay
Trodden with the cattle's 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 another's loss of ease,
And builds a Hell in Heaven's despite."

6. The poem was published as a
part of his collection Songs of
Experience in 1794. His
spiritual beliefs are evidenced
of here, in which he shows his
own distinction between the
Old Testament and the
New Testament.
Songs of Experience deals with
the loss of innocence. Poems
are darker, concentrating on
more political and serious
themes.

7. The poem is about two different
points of view from love. One of
view is from The Clod and other is
from The Pebble. The two views
coexist and each view insures each
other. The one cannot never exist
without
the other.
The poem shows contrast between
these two personalities (the clod
and the pebble). The two
contrasting points of view on love.
We can see the theme of love and the
different aspects form it: love is
altruistic, selfish..

8. Love seeketh not Itself to please,”
Nor for itself hath any care,
But for another gives its ease,
And builds a Heaven in Hell's despair
In the first stanza of the poem, Blake
describes the clods perspective of love. In
the clod's view, love is seen as a selfless,
caring, and even amenable force. His
perspective of love seems almost
religious, with how pure and innocent his
ideas are, and is further cemented as a
religious perspective due to the fact that
this love, "builds a Heaven…,"

9. So sung a little Clod of Clay
Trodden with the cattle's feet
But a Pebble of the brook
Warbled out these metres meet:
In the second stanza, we have the two
participants. The clod is described as “trodden
with the cattle feet”, that means that the clod has
been trampled on but he does not mind what is
going to happen because he accepts that In the
first line we have the word “clay”, that means
that the clod is soft, not hard. Soft means
something sentimental, unrealistic, weak.
Later we have the other participant, the Pebble.
The Pebble is hard. Hard means something
cinical, unsentimental, realistic. He has a
different point of view from the Clod. He is
someone who has suffered of love. He
described love as selfish.

10. We have another image: the Pebble of the
brook. This image says where is the
Pebble. In the brook. This image
explains the negative vision that love is
or what will be.
The Pebble has a negative tone.
In the last line of second stanza, the word
“meet” has the idea of “appropiate”.
Why the Pebble´s metres are
appropiated? Perhaps there is an
ambiguity. The two views are balanced
one and other. The one can not exist
without the other.

11. "Love seeketh only Self to please,
To bind anther to Its delight,
Joys in another's loss of ease,
And builds a Hell in Heaven's despite.“
In the third stanza, we have a dark image.
The first line: Love seeketh only Self to please means
that love is selfish and for this reason the word “Self”
is capitalized.
In the first and third line we can observe: please-ease.
These words have an idea of pleasure.
We have another image. Heaven has two meanings:
1) it is associated with the idea of pleasure.
2) It is associated with the idea of pain, suffering.
When the poem says: builds a Hell in Heaven´s
despite means that the Pebble believes that love
corrupts purity, honesty

12. Rhyme
 The rhyme scheme in the first and
third stanza is the same: ABBA.

13. The figurative language
 There are two metaphors used to describe the
contrasting sides of love. Blake uses a Clod and
a Pebble as his metaphors for love. The clod
exemplifies a selfless kind of heavenly love,
while the pebble represents a stubborn and
selfish kind of love
 Blake stated at the beginning of his poem, “Love
seeketh not itself to please,/ Nor for itself hat
any care,/ But for another gives it ease( 1,2,3).”
The clod gets joy out of helping others. A clod is
soft, and it will not hurt someone. It can be
molded, changed stepped on, and squished
without pain for anyone. The clod also

14.  The pebble in Blake’s poem is a metaphor for a selfish
person that desires everything only for himself. Blake
states, “Love seeketh only Self to please,/ To bind
another to its delight (9,10).” The pebble has no feelings
for anyone except himself. The pebble is the perfect
metaphor for selfishness. A pebble is hard, and it will
not change. Just like the selfish love that the pebble
represents. The pebble is also experienced and has lost
its innocence, unlike the clod. The pebble has been
jaded by life and expects the worst out of people. This is
why the pebble is so self-centered.
 Blake also uses heaven and hell as metaphors for the
clod and the pebble. Talking about the clod, Blake
states, “And builds a heaven in hell’s despair (4).”
Heaven is a strong metaphor to use, and that is a very
strong compliment to give the clod. However, Blake
says the exact opposite about the pebble. Blake states,
“And builds a hell in heaven’s despite (12).” These
metaphors show that the clod is trying to make the best
out of life. The clod wants to turn a hell into a heaven.
However, the pebble builds a hell on earth for everyone
around him. The metaphors of heaven and hell prove
just how contrary the clod and the pebble are.

15. Theme
 The theme of the poem is the two
contrasting sides of love represented
by a clod and a pebble. William Blake
says loving others “builds heaven in
hell’s despair.” That is the kind of love
Blake thinks we should strive for in
this poem

16. Sources
http://chisnell.com/APEng/LitCrit%20Wikis/The%20Cl
od%20and%20the%20Pebble.aspx
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20111
123121008AAQJyj6
http://mural.uv.es/sanlobe/firstpaper.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCiki7Wte3o
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ueXvRy7UoJk

17. Thank you