Question

What do you mean by 'not so much pain will do it'

Answer 1

The given line is taken from the poem, “On Killing a Tree” by Gieve Patel.

According to the poem, killing a tree requires a lot of effort.

This is primarily because of the resilient character of the tree.

The tree has seen much worse than what we can inflict up on it because of the forces of nature.

Thus, the poet says a little pain will not kill the tree.

This is the meaning of the line, ‘not so much pain will do it