As I Watch'd the Ploughman Ploughing

"As I Watch'd the Ploughman Ploughing" is a very short poem by Walt Whitman containing only four lines, yet in these four lines about observing a farmer plow, sow, and harvest his fields, Whitman manages to insert ideas about his "Everyman" and Christianity.

Analyzing from the Christianity perspective, one can say that the farmer is God. He plows the field to give it shape, much like how God created the world in the Bible, sows the seeds to let them grow, similar to how God created humanity and gave it free will to grow in numbers, and then harvested the plants when they were grown, just like how God harvests the souls of people when they age and finally die to bring them to heaven (Whitman).

It can also be analyzed as the Holy Trinity, however, the ploughman being the Father, the sower being the Holy Spirit, and the harvester being the Son. In that way, the ploughman/Father plows the field/creates the world, the sower/Holy Spirit gives the plants life/gives new life to believers, and the harvester/Son saves the plants from rotting in the field/saves humanity from a pointless death (pointless death for vegetables being rotting in the field and not contributing to the circle of life) (Whitman).

The cycle of life and death is also an important part of this poem. The plants are sown as seeds, and they grow during their lifetime until they mature and are harvested (Whitman). This harvest kills them, but they go on to feed and nourish the farmer who plants more seeds (possibly even seeds from the plants themselves) to grow and continue the cycle (Whitman). The human cycle of life and death works the same way. We grow up, become mature, then spread our own seeds, so to speak, when we have children. Then we die, but we leave behind a new generation to continue on the cycle.

Since this cycle is the same for all living things, it connects them together, giving plants similarities to people and animals and so forth. In this way, it also connects every human, as we all trace the circle of life and death. Also, in using "I" in his poem, Whitman insinuates the Everyman as being "I" in that everyone watches these cycles and is a part of them (Whitman). Everything is connected.

Works Cited

Whitman, Walt. "As I Watch'd the Ploughman Ploughing." Leaves of Grass. The Walt Whitman Archive. Web. 28 Feb. 2011. http://whitmanarchive.org.