Putting in the Seed

You come to fetch me from my work to-nightWhen supper's on the table, and we'll seeIf I can leave off burying the whiteSoft petals fallen from the apple tree(Soft petals, yes, but not so barren quite,Mingled with these, smooth bean and wrinkled pea);And go along with you ere you lose sightOf what you came for and become like me,Slave to a Springtime passion for the earth.How Love burns through the Putting in the SeedOn through the watching for that early birthWhen, just as the soil tarnishes with weed,The sturdy seedling with arched body comesShouldering its way and shedding the earth crumbs.

The poem begins with a suggestion of obedience as the farmer waits for his wife to come for him when dinner is ready. He wonders if he’ll be able to "leave off" the sowing of peas and beans (along with the fallen petals of apple). He wonders if the wife would also forget what she came for and like him become: Slave to a Springtime passion for the earth. Every farmer can be expected to experience a feeling of love while sowing and seeing the seeds sprout and grow. But the poet's love for Nature is so overwhelming, that nothing less that 'burning' seems to describe this love. The love that he experiences in sowing seeds and seeing them sprout is so intense that he almost groans, "How Love burns through the Putting in the Seed On through the watching for that early birth".