A liveliness of nature can be transformed into lifelessness and dullness with the touch of man. Discuss this assertion with the examples from the poem "The Earthen Goblet."

The poem is a dialogue between a clay goblet and the potter who created him. The goblet makes it clear that he was much happier before he was dug up from the ground and unceremoniously flung onto the potter's wheel. Life was so much better when he was just a humble piece of clay, for then he enjoyed the friendship of a fragrant little flower whose roots were buried deep inside him.
But that's all gone now. As the goblet ruefully reflects, the potter has drawn the living breath right out of him. He may have been somewhat unshapely back in the day, but at least when he was just a piece of clay he had the companionship of a little flower, which is more than he has now.
The goblet stands as a metaphor for how humankind so often takes what is naturally beautiful and destroys it to create objects of artificial beauty.