Tread Lightly, she is near Under the snow, Speak gently, she can hear The daisies grow.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- The poem urges gentle, careful behavior around a delicate presence, using snow and daisies as symbols of fragility.
- In plain terms
- Move lightly and speak softly near something fragile.
- What can you take from it?
- Treat delicate situations with care and quiet respect.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- When should you tread lightly?
- What signals indicate a need for gentleness?
Another view
Metaphor may be too vague for concrete guidance.
More from Oscar Wilde
God knows; I won't be an Oxford don anyhow. I'll be a poet, a writer, a dramatist. Somehow or other I'll be famous, and if not famous, I'll be notorious. Or pe…
Permalink to quote #1 Lo! with a little rod I did but touch the honey of romance - And must I lose a soul's inheritance?** Helas!, l. 12-14 (1881)
Permalink to quote #3 Over the piano was printed a notice: Please do not shoot the pianist. He is doing his best.
Permalink to quote #4
Related quotes
Up the airy mountain, Down the rushy glen, We daren't go a-hunting, For fear of little men.
William AllinghamWilliam Allingham quote #1 Then, cleaving the grass, gazelles appear (The gentler dolphins of kindlier waves) With sensitive heads alert of ear; Frail crowds that a delicate hearing save…
Thomas Sturge MooreThomas Sturge Moore quote #1 They darted down and rose up like a wave Or buzzed impetuously as before; One would have thought the corpse was held a slave To living by the life it bore!
Allen TateAllen Tate quote #1