Literary notes about Tread (AI summary)
The word "tread" in literature is a versatile term that conveys much more than the simple act of stepping. Often it is used to caution against reckless behavior, as in the well-known admonition, "Fools rush in where angels fear to tread" [1], yet it can also evoke the delicate grace or resolute determination of a character’s movement—capturing both a light, buoyant pace [2] and a measured, significant progression [3]. At times, writers employ it to symbolize the moral or existential paths one follows, where each step reflects deeper choices and consequences [4, 5]. This blending of literal and metaphorical meanings has ensured that "tread" remains a powerful poetic device across a range of narrative styles and themes.
- "Fools rush in where angels fear to tread."
— from Love's Final Victory Ultimate Universal Salvation on the Basis of Scripture and Reason by Horatio - They marked the buoyancy of her tread, like the skim of a bird which has not quite alighted.
— from Tess of the d'Urbervilles: A Pure Woman by Thomas Hardy - Finally, he walked across the room with a measured tread to where the window was.
— from A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens - And from his holy lips these accents broke: "'Why, mortal, wanderest thou from cheerful day, To tread the downward, melancholy way?
— from The Odyssey by Homer - The life that was within him knew that it was the one way out, the way he was predestined to tread.
— from White Fang by Jack London
