In this poem, Blake describes the concept of love through a piece of trodden clay who is depicted as innocent. The clay has a selfless attitude towards love and finds composure in the malleable nature of adapting. The clay's passive viewpoint makes sense that love "builds a heaven in hell's despair" because it is use to being shaped by the forces of others. However the theme of Innocence takes a turn with a 'But' when Blake introduces the pebble from the brook, hard-minded and desensitized. The pebble declares that love is selfish, wishes to please only itself, and takes joy in the losses of others. The pebble represents an Experienced persona and through human's natural selfishness "builds a hell in heaven's despite."
The balancing lines of "heaven in hell's despair" and "hell in heaven's despite" along with the neutral 'But' cancel out any noticeable bias in Blake and allow the readers to think for themselves. The irony for me is that if selfishness dominates selflessness in
nature, and selflessness dominates selfishness in spirit, who is right in the end? Who wins in the end?
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