Putting in the Seed

The most prominent theme of “Putting in the Seed” is the intimate, amorous connection between the speaker and the land he farms. In the opening four lines, the speaker suggests this connection is more enthralling and important than sustenance (he’s reluctant to go inside for dinner) and his wife (she’s the one who wants him to go inside for dinner). The speaker says, “[W]e’ll see / If I can leave off” (Lines 2-3). The implication is that he won’t be able stop planting, and the rest of the poem bears this notion, because in the remaining 8 lines, the speaker focuses on planting apple seeds and ignores his dinner and his wife.

Line 5 describes the apple seeds as “soft.” Line 6 describes adjacent seeds as “smooth” and “wrinkled.” This attention to the tactile nature of the seeds emphasizes that the farmer has a strong, physical connection to nature—he is handling seeds and putting them in the dirt. It also suggests a loving connection as the seeds are described in sensuous detail.

Next, the speaker tells his wife that he’s a “slave […] to passion,” but instead of passion for her, his passion is “for the earth” (Line 9). Of this passion, he says, “How Love burns through the Putting in the Seed” (Line 10).