The Poplar Seed

I'm working on a poem called "The Poplar Seed". I'd like to make it as good as I can make it, and I welcome help and advice. The latest version is posted here:

http://www.poems-and-quotes.com/misc/poems.php?id=1157756

I am most interested in hearing people's impression on first reading the poem. I also have some specific concerns:

1) I am not satisfied with the first line. Originally, it read "The poplar tree grows on a bank of land fertile and fair". However, "fertile" isn't accented correctly for the meter. I changed it to "The poplar tree grows on a bank of land most rich and fair." That line fits the meter, but doesn't have as good a meaning.

2) In the poem, I repeated "poplar" and "seed". By doing so, I intended to keep the poem starkly simple for the first three lines and give contrast to the fourth. However, I fear this may not have worked, since I've already received advice to avoid the repetition.

3) I can't decide whether to include or omit one "the" from the last line: "Such is the fate of all God's work and the grand designs of Man." or "Such is the fate of all God's work and grand designs of Man." Technically, it adds an unwanted syllable without contributing much meaning. However, my gut tells me it belongs there.

4) The poem only works if the reader understands that "sand" is not a synonym for "dirt" (i.e. sand is not fertile). That doesn't need to be noticed on the first read, but it needs to be recognized eventually.

-TC