The Words Under the Words

Seeds are traditionally symbols of the continuation of life. When the speaker says “fly away like seeds in a deep sky” (Line 24), it recalls the way dandelion seeds or seeds from a tree fly on the wind. Although the seeds are flying away from the speaker, this is not a tragedy but rather a natural part of the life cycle. The speaker has faith the seeds “will plant themselves” (Line 25). This demonstrates the speaker’s connection to nature, not only in terms of the natural world but also in terms of the nature of life and human interaction. Parents may want their children to stay near to them, but it is part of nature to spread seeds on the wind. This is also a metaphor for faith. Even though the grandmother only sees the seeds disappearing into a “deep sky” (Line 24), she must have faith that they will find their way to a ground where they can “plant” (Line 25) themselves.

The poem ends with a quote, “Answer, if you hear the words under the words—” (Line 31), which is the title of the poem. The quote continues, “otherwise it is just a world with a lot of rough edges, / difficult to get through, and our pockets full of stones” (Line 32-33).