“O if we but knew what we do when we delve or hew -- hack and rack the growing green! Since country is so tender to touch, her being so slender, that like this sleek and seeing ball but a prick will make no eye at all, where we, even where we mean to mend her we end her, when we hew or delve: after-comers cannot guess the beauty been.”
Cite this quote
APA
Hopkins, G. M. (n.d.). O if we but knew what we do when we delve or hew -- hack and rack the growing green! Since country is so tender to touch, her being so slender, that like this sleek and seeing ball but a prick will make no eye at all, where we, even where we mean to mend her we end her, when we hew or delve: after-comers cannot guess the beauty been. [Quotation]. Famous Quotations Network. Retrieved October 24, 2026, from https://www.famous-quotations.com/quotes/3057-o-if-we-but-knew-what-we-do/
MLA
Hopkins, Gerard Manley. “O if we but knew what we do when we delve or hew -- hack and rack the growing green! Since country is so tender to touch, her being so slender, that like this sleek and seeing ball but a prick will make no eye at all, where we, even where we mean to mend her we end her, when we hew or delve: after-comers cannot guess the beauty been.” Famous Quotations Network, https://www.famous-quotations.com/quotes/3057-o-if-we-but-knew-what-we-do/. Accessed 24 Oct. 2026.
Chicago
Hopkins, Gerard Manley. “O if we but knew what we do when we delve or hew -- hack and rack the growing green! Since country is so tender to touch, her being so slender, that like this sleek and seeing ball but a prick will make no eye at all, where we, even where we mean to mend her we end her, when we hew or delve: after-comers cannot guess the beauty been.” Famous Quotations Network. Accessed October 24, 2026. https://www.famous-quotations.com/quotes/3057-o-if-we-but-knew-what-we-do/.