Over the shoulders and slopes of the dune
I saw the white daisies go down to the sea,
A host in the sunshine, an army in June,
The people God sends us to set our heart free.
The bobolinks rallied them up from the dell,
The orioles whistled them out of the wood;
And all of their saying was, “Earth, it is well!”
And all of their dancing was, “Life, thou art good!”
The Home Book of Verse American and English 1580–1912; Volume IV Poems of Nature (1915) | William Bliss Carman (1861–1929)
Suggestions
Ask your students to do one or more of the following:
- Read the poem aloud.
- Copy the poem on Drawing and Writing paper. Illustrate the drawing with a representative illustration.
- Determine the rhyme scheme of the poem (ABAB).
- Older students can narrate the first stanza explaining the meaning.
- Learn more about the bobolink.
- Learn more about the oriole.
- Study wildflowers.
Additional Resources
14 Forms of Writing for the Older Student: Poetry
Ideas for doing more with the poem.
