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.
2007-01-07 19:24:02 · 13 answers · asked by MariJM 2 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Philosophy
• You can't love somebody for how it makes you feel.
• You can't love with reservations or fears.
• The love you give is returned.
• And delivers you from whatever pain your in.
2007-01-09 09:45:07 · answer #1 · answered by DeanPonders 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
True love is not selfish. When you are in-love you shift your center from yourself to the person you love. Such that the meaning of your life is no longer based on your mortal self, but in others. The heaven it refers to is escape from mortality.
Doesn't this sound so familiar? I don't know if Blake consciously made any reference to theology, but this is how some people define Christ's love. The example is JC's death on the cross as an example of God's unconditional love for mankind. Mankind need only love God in return, thus making God the center of his life. By making the absolute and immortal God his center he in fact conquers death (he builds a heaven in hell's despair). And so in dying are we born into immortal life. (The story of Abraham and Isaac again.- By the very act of giving up our lives, it is given back to us.)
Quite a romantic point of view don't you think? And doesn't just make you want to believe? But there is the danger. Poets lie too much, making the irrational sound so good that you find yourself believing without thinking. I wonder how many people trust Blake enough that they will "seek not itself to please" in the (vain?) hope for heaven.
2007-01-07 20:59:30 · answer #2 · answered by ragdefender 6 · 1⤊ 2⤋
http://www.literatureclassics.com/essays/436/
From his poem, The Clod and The Pebble.
Blake loves to explore the world through opposite eyes.
The Clod (innocence) and The Pebble (experience) discuss the meaning of Love.
Experience (the pebble) understands that in this life we must suffer. But through suffering we discover the true meaning of love. Experience has found that Sacrifice is the hallmark of true love.
Innocence (the Clod) is young and has tender thoughts about Love. Love is kindness and brings happiness.
Blake tips his hat toward Experience.
Blake is deeply christian and his poem is an expression of the New Testament word, "agape"; a kind of love: God's love.
Different from deep friendship (phileo), or passionate love (eros).
Agape is the sacrificing love of a Mother; willing to lay down her life for her child.
Blake's purpose is to introduce the reader to a kind of love which is very rare in the world; unheard of in some places.
It is the love of God; who sacrificed His only Son; that whosoever should hear Him and believe; should not perish; but have everlasting life.
2007-01-08 00:56:40 · answer #3 · answered by T K 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It is part of a continuing Lesson teaching who Love will be. Will she be you? Will you be the greatest one to represent Love on this planet and make God proud?
"Love ... thinketh no evil" is what Saint Paul said. Can you live a life without thinking evil against God? If so you wouldn't have believed in the story of Sodom and Gomorrah and you would have known that the Spirit of Good Will would never whisper into the heart of an elderly Abraham and try to incite a murder. You would be living pure of heart and have depth of wisdom in your spirit.
Representing what Love is, who God is and what He represents is a job for a person who has a great love nature and throughout history, different saints have been speaking of this person and prophecizing her arrival.
Love seeketh not itself to please means she will be loving others so much, she will diligently give unto others with all of her heart.
Are you the person Sir William Blake was speaking of? (Please give him his title; he earned it). We all try to be Love for His sake, do we not?
Nor for itself hath any care. She is of nurturing and nourishing in spirit and only gives in true heartedness and purity; she is the kind of saint who would give you anything you desired as long as it did not harm anyone else.She cares not for materialness, but gauges for your happiness and feelings of warmth and comfort. She makes the perfect nursemaid in times of distress.
But for another gies its ease. Perfection. You can trust her, she is softness, gladness, truth and inward beauty. She makes you feel love and trust. Open cherishment. She defies the world outside and creates for you an inner peace. She defines Love and Harmony.
And buildes a Heaven in Hell's despair. Anywhere she goes, you can count on her to never change, but to bring the aid you are looking for and change the dynamics of the world you live in, which can be a hell, to shed her kindness and light and turn it all around with the brightness of her being.
She represents the love of God and hope for mankind.
Are you that person they are prophecizing CAN EXIST? A true representative of Love?
Love is patient, love is kind. Love doth not boast. Read Corinthians to know more about Saints expanding upon the prophecy of who Love is and what she would act like.
More and more representatives of Love are coming. You can recognize them almost instantly. Saints have a way of knowing how to identify who they are and how they feel, how they act and give promises that they shall be there.
And they are here.
2007-01-08 01:44:04 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
It refers to the fact the love is selfless. That when you really love somebody you do not care about your own wishes any more, but for those of someone else. Making another happy is what makes you happy.
It's really not that philosophical
2007-01-07 19:35:37 · answer #5 · answered by Ana 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
It means that when you love someone, you are not trying to please yourself, but are trying to please the person you love, and make things better for them. Thus, you build a "heaven" in the midst of the everyday troubles of the world, even if the world is as terrible as hell itself.
2007-01-07 19:27:15 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 4⤊ 1⤋
Divine Love is unconditional. It is unto itself (Bliss).
2007-01-08 01:56:32 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
salaam Gobi
2007-01-07 19:34:28 · answer #8 · answered by Mohammad G 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's referring to William Blake's ejaculatory release.
2007-01-07 19:27:35 · answer #9 · answered by Chuck Dhue 4 · 0⤊ 5⤋
if I make you happy in turn I will end up happy
that's my motto anyways
smile
good luck
cutie
2007-01-08 04:07:29 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋