Love seeketh not itself to please

by William Blake

For works with similar titles, see The Clod and the Pebble.

Blake's manuscript: "Love seeketh not itself to please..."

 * * *
"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."