This poem is interesting and that begins with the title. It is not a particular or the seed. It is seed. We cast our spirit and who we are like seed and it finds fertile ground in living in abundant ways. It is us who must be fertile in our interactions with the world we live in. I think that is what the poet Miguel de Unamuno is suggesting.
We tend the soil through mindful attentiveness revealing what is good in our work and in the world. Our work is a gift to the world when it is done this way. Work helps define living. When embedded in something we love, it shows and is revealed easily. We speak to the world through the voice our work does. In a way, work is the serious work of playfulness.
In casting seed, we make the world a better place when it is done mindfully and with care. When done that way, the harvest is rich and abundant.
Shake off this sadness, and recover your spirit;
Sluggish you will never see the wheel of fate
That brushes your heel as it turns going by,
The man who wants to live is the man in whom life is abundant.
Now you are only giving food to that final pain
Which is slowly winding you in the nets of death,
But to live is to work, and the only thing which lasts
Is the work; start there, turn to the work.
Throw yourself like seed as you walk, and into your own field,
Don’t turn your face for that would be to turn it to death,
And do not let the past weigh down your motion.
Leave what’s alive in the furrow, what’s dead in yourself,
For life does not move in the same way as a group of clouds;
From your work you will be able one day to gather yourself.
ivonprefontaine
Teacher as Transformer 
I think your interpretation of the poem is even more meaningful and beautiful than the poem itself.
Thank you.
“We tend the soil through mindful attentiveness revealing what is good in our work and in the world. Our work is a gift to the world when it is done this way.”
Yes.
Thank you.
I need this in plain site as a daily reminder. Love it!
Thank you.
Interesting. I liked it, but it also bothered me a bit as the focus was work. Don’t get me wrong – I believe in good work. But I also believe in good fun, in leisurely walks, in time by the sea. I guess I feel it should have included some fabulous pleasures as well.
I think, and I might be mistaken, work is a broad, generic word here meaning all we do. When I read the poem, I thought of work done by philosophers in the area of play.
So interesting Ivon. As I read the poem I hone in to the fact that it is his own filed he is doing the seed, rather than scattering further. My interpretation is more about moving out of a difficult time and bringing ourselves to life.
I prefer your interpretation Ivon … its more aligned to my view of the world.
Thank you for getting the cogs going this morning.
Val x
Thank you and you are welcome Val. This is one of those poems something new emerges each time I read it.
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Thank you.
Thanks so much for sharing, my friend. These inspiring words embracing both the pains and joys of life have hit their mark inside me just when then were needed most. Peace.
You are welcome. Take care and enjoy.
“…We speak to the world through the voice our work does. In a way, work is the serious work of playfulness….” ABSOLUTELY! I started to reiterate the passage that resonates most strongly for me, Ivon, and realized I would copying most of this deeply moving and wondrous post :). Thank you so much for your inspiration and wisdom. I am adding some of this poem to my walls of quotes in my home. xoxo
Thank you and you are welcome. I find each time I read this poem new meaning emerges from the words and silences.