Which phrase best expresses the theme of this sonnet? god's grandeur by gerard manley hopkins the world is charged with the grandeur of god. it will flame out, like shining from shook foil; it gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil crushed. why do men then now not reck his rod? 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. and for all this, nature is never spent; there lives the dearest freshness deep down things;