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by William Blake (1757 - 1827)

The clod and the pebble
 (Sung text for setting by D. Smirnov)
 Matches original text
Language: English 
Our translations:  RUS
"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."

Composition:

    Set to music by Dmitri Nikolaevich Smirnov (1948 - 2020), "The clod and the pebble", op. 132 no. 7 (2001) [ speaker and tape ], from The Innocence of Experience, no. 7

Text Authorship:

  • by William Blake (1757 - 1827), "The clod and the pebble", appears in Songs of Innocence and Experience, in Songs of Experience, no. 3, first published 1794

See other settings of this text.

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

  • RUS Russian (Русский) [singable] (Dmitri Nikolaevich Smirnov) , "Комок и камень", copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 73

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