The poem begins by picturing all men gathered together on the Day of Reckoning. The peasant who has paid his tithes can then expect his reward, for he is generous and peace-loving, not judgmental, aggressive, larcenous, harsh or fraudulent. Long-suffering and irreplaceable, he follows his plough rather than demolishing towers like some Arthur. Without him there would be no Communion bread, and no pope or king could survive. As the Elucidarium says, the ploughman is blessed. The poem describes the plough itself by the use of a string of metaphors, such as
