Why did the Seed-Merchant thank God in "The Seed-Merchant's Son" by Agnes Grozier Herbertson?

Question

"The Seed-Merchant's Son" is a poem by Agnes Grozier Herbertson, often included in collections of WWI poetry. It doesn't go into the details of the war, like some other WWI poems; in fact, the war is only mentioned once in the poem, which mainly focuses on the father's reaction to his son's death: > The Seed-Merchant has lost his son, His dear, his loved, his only one. > [...] > The Seed-Merchant goes on his way: I saw him out on his land today; > [...] > Oh, never a soul could understand Why he looked at the earth, and the seed in his hand, > As he had never before seen seed or sod: I heard him murmur: ‘Thank God, thank God!’ The poem ends on this somewhat ambiguous note, which I'm not sure how to interpret. Perhaps it's dangerous even to try, when the poem itself says "never a soul could understand", but warnings like that shouldn't always be taken literally, so let's pose the question. **Why did the Seed-Merchant thank God?** It's definitely a significant part of the poem, being literally the final line, and it must say something about the Seed-Merchant's reaction to his son's death, though I'm not sure exactly what.

Answer 1

I would argue that the poet is drawing line between seeds and rebirth, with echoes of Christ's death and resurrection. If we reference the Bible passage, John 12:24, which says "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit." Coming back to the first couple of the poem, in which we see "His dear, his loved, his only one", we again see echoes of Christ being "the firstborn of God's creation" and "His beloved Son". Perhaps the poet is trying to show that the Seed-Merchant still hopes to see his son again one day (after Christ's second coming or in Heaven), or at the very least sees a legacy left behind that is bearing fruit in the soil and seeds in his own hand.