By: David Orne

The Day the Bulldozers Came

 STANZA 1

The first stanza describes what was happening in a

forest or countryside on the day the bulldozers came.

Rooks, similar to crows, were building up their nests

in the oak tree. Green flies buzzed by the pond while
a toad was waiting for a chance to catch them.

This reflects stage in the cycle of life – reproduction, feeding

and death. This routine was interrupted by the arrival of the
bulldozers
 STANZA 2

The five lines of stanza 2 There is a sense of fear

continue with a and panic as the
description of squirrels bulldozers came closer.
running up trees and The tree branches ‘were
jumping from the hardly there’ possibly
branches. The word because they had been
‘scattering’ shows that cut off. The branches are
the squirrels were usually cut before the
running in all direction. trees are felled.
 STANZA 3

The third verse tell

us that the fox, The last begins
The fox, however,
sleeping in its den, with ‘then’ which
was not worried.
was woken up by indicates that the
He felt safe in his
the shaking of the fox was actually
hole deep
ground as the not safe from the
underground
bulldozers bulldozers
approached
ELEMENTS OF THE POEM
 PLACE
The setting of the poem is the
countryside or a forest. There are trees
(oaks), a pond and underground dens.
This is the natural environment where
animals, birds and insects live. The
creatures mentioned in the poem –
rocks, squirrels and foxes – indicate that
the setting is in a western country such
as England or America.
Setting
 TIME
The poem describes the arrival of
bulldozers in the countryside. Bulldozers
were invented in the early 20th century.
These powerful machines are used to
clear forests for development.
Therefore, the poem is set in modern
times.
Setting
The persona of this poem is the third person omniscient
narrator. The narrator describes what can be observed, such
as the birds building their nest (line 2 -3) and what cannot be
seen, such as the fox in its underground den. The narrator is
omniscient, for he even knows what the fox was thinking (line
15 -18)
 THEMES

Deforestation and habitat loss

Bulldozers are used for logging or to clear land for
agriculture and housing. Deforestation destroys the
natural habitat of native wildlife. The poem describes
how the bulldozers were going to destroy the
natural habitat.
 THEMES
The effect of modern development
on the environment
The poem describes the natural world and provides
details on what the creatures were doing before the
machines arrived to destroy their world. The birds were
preparing nests to lay their eggs, the toad was waiting for
its meal, the squirrels were scampering around as they
always do and the fox was sleeping underground. Later,
trees would be bulldozed away. There would be broken
nests, the animals’ homes would be destroyed and the
creatures would have nowhere to hide. Such is the
destructive impact of modern development on the
environment.
 THEMES

Machines versus nature

The bulldozers are powerful
machines. Nature is helpless
against these machines. The
creatures were unaware of
the destruction coming their
way. For example, the fox
thought he was safe
underground but ‘then the
bulldozers came’ and would
destroy even what lay
underground.
 MESSAGES
The poem shows us the cycle of life in the natural
world. Birds were preparing to lay their eggs. The flies
were buzzing around happily while the toad waited for
the chance to get his dinner. This is the natural cycle of
birth, growth and death that keeps the balance of
nature. This natural cycle was destroyed when the
bulldozers arrived to clear the trees.

By showing us the beauty and balance of

the natural world, the poet makes us feel
a sense of horror at its destruction. The
poet wants us to think about the effect
of development on nature.

Think about the effect of

development on nature
 MESSAGES
The poem describes the natural wildlife in the
countryside and how the arrival of the bulldozers would
destroy the trees and natural habitat. The creatures
would not survive. The poet is telling us to preserve
the forest and the natural habitat of the creatures so
that they can live.

Preserve the forest and

protect the animals
 MORAL VALUES

Love for nature

The description of the creatures
living in the wild and the poet’s
message to protect their habitat
supports this moral value.
 MORAL VALUES

Respect for life

The poem portrays nature as being
full of life and activity with the
creatures living out their life cycle in
peace. Then, the bulldozers came,
bringing death and destruction. The
poem makes us aware that living
things are being killed because of
development.
Tone: lighthearted then foreboding
The tone of the poem is lighthearted at first.
The use of the expression ‘crazy eggs baskets’
refers to something fun. However, the tone
turns serious and foreboding from the end of
the first stanza. The ‘cold-eyed’ toad waiting
to catch a fly refers to the cycle of life which
involves feeding and dying. However this
reference to a predator and death is a
foreshadowing of the death and destruction
that was coming.

The second stanza continues on this note of

foreboding for the squirrels were ‘scattering
up the trees (line 8), and leaping off
branches (line 10), as if they were in a panic.
 Mood: dark and fearful

The mood is dark and fearful. The third

stanza strengthens the sense of doom.
The earth ‘trembled’ (line 14) which
reflects fear. The fox thinks it is safe
underground but the last line beginning
with ‘then’ tells us that it is not true.
 Language and Style
• The poem has three stanzas of different
lengths.
• There are 19 lines altogether.
• The poem is written in free verse and has no
rhyming pattern.
• The poem sounds like natural speech or
narration. Direct speech is used as in
storytelling (lines 15 and 16)
• There is a vague rhythm due to the repetition
of the line ‘the bulldozers came’ (lines 1, 7
and 19)
 Repetition
• The first line of the poem is repeated in the
first line of stanza 2 and also partially in
the last line of the third verse.
• The repeated lines act like a reminder of
the important event and help build
suspense.
 Imagery
• The poem is rich in visual and movement imagery.
Descriptive words like ‘crazy’, ‘green’, ‘sizzled’ and
‘cold-eyed’ are used in the first verse to provide a
clear picture of the creatures in their natural
habitat.
• No descriptive words are used in the following
two verses. This creates a sense of urgency as the
bulldozers arrive.
• Movement imagery in the poem is used to depict
life and activity in the countryside. Action words
like ‘building’, ‘sizzled’, ‘scattering’ and ‘leapt’ are
used for movement imagery.
• The word ‘sizzled’ is also sound imagery because it
helps us ‘hear’ the sound of the insects buzzing.
Foreshadowing

• The toad waiting to attack and

devour the flies foreshadows
the fate of the creatures.
• The toad is ‘cold-eyed’ meaning
unfeeling, just like the machines
that came to destroy the trees
and the wildlife living among
them.
 Personification
• In line 14, the ground ‘trembled’. This
refers to the physical shaking of the
earth as the big and heavy bulldozers
approach.
• This is also a metaphor for fear. Nature
shakes with fear as the machines arrive.
• In lines 15 to 18, the fox thinks like a
human.
 Symbolism

• The bulldozers
symbolise
development.
• They are also a symbol
of destruction and
violence resulting from
human disregard for
the environment.
THANK YOU
Compiled by: Miz Malinz