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Quotation from God's Grandeur by Gerard Manley Hopkins
“Generations have trod, have trod, have trod; And all is seared with trade; bleared, smeared with toil; And wears man's smudge and shares man's smell: the soil Is bare now, nor can foot feel, being shod.”
God's Grandeur, Lines 5-8 (Bridges, 1918)
The answer to the question of line 4: a picture of human labor wearing the world down until people can no longer feel it.
Citation: "Generations have trod, have trod, have trod; And all is seared with trade; bleared, smeared with toil; And wears man's smudge and shares man's smell: the soil Is bare now, nor can foot feel, being shod." — Gerard Manley Hopkins, God's Grandeur, Lines 5-8 (Bridges, 1918). (id gods-grandeur-q3)
Portrait: GerardManleyHopkins, Unknown author, Public domain.
