Today I am reading Putting in the Seed by Robert Frost this spring while meditating on Leaves Compared with Flowers and wondering about how most poets are afflicted with this "springtime passion for the earth." Interesting that Robert Frost is so self-aware and self-deprecating, a great quality in a poet. Through this Shakespearean sonnet, reader can reflect upon how “sowing a seed” is related human love and life. The reader marvels at how small this seed is, yet how sturdy. This is from where the root will come, and like Kabir says, the root will lead you to the branch, the leaf, the flower, and the fruit.
Putting in the Seed
Robert Frost
You come to fetch me from my work to-night
When supper's on the table, and we'll see
If I can leave off burying the white
Soft 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 sight
Of what you came for and become like me,
Slave to a springtime passion for the earth.
How Love burns through the Putting in the Seed
On through the watching for that early birth
When, just as the soil tarnishes with weed,
The sturdy seedling with arched body comes
Shouldering its way and shedding the earth crumbs.
Notes from Others
1. Frost is at the dinner table for his final meal of the day. His personal season of fertility is over. He observes. He is aware of the trials for the seed. But the seed is already planted and he cannot control it with his own will. It will grow without Frost’s control. The trick is to watch and allow life to be.
2. The poem is literally about a woman who comes to tell a man his supper is ready. She gets distracted working with the man. They discover they both enjoy planting and watching the seeds grow.
Singing oneness!
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