The Day the Bulldozers Came by David Orme

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 symbolize development. They are also a symbol of destruction and
violence resulting from human disregard for the environment.
The Day the Bulldozers Came by David Orme

The Poet
David Orme is a children’s writer and poet from England. He has written or edited more than 250 books.
Orme lives in Winchester, Hampshire, England and was the chair of the Education Writers Group of the
Society of Authors. With Helen Orme he has volunteered to assist in literacy programs. He was directer of
the Schools Poetry Association (SPA).

The Poem Meaning

The day the bulldozers came
Rooks were building
Crazy egg baskets in the oaks;
Green flies sizzled by the pond
And a cold-eyed toad
Waited for them.
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

The day the bulldozers came
Squirrels were scattering
Up tree trunks
And leapt from branches
That were hardly there
The five lines of stanza 2 continue with a description of squirrels running
up trees and jumping from the branches. The word ‘scattering’ shows that
the squirrels were running in all direction. There is a sense of fear and
panic as the bulldozers came closer. The tree branches ‘were hardly there’
possibly because they had been cut off. The branches are usually cut
before the trees are felled.

The fox
Stirred in his sleep
As the ground trembles
‘Ha ha!’ he thought
‘I’m quite safe
Deep down in the Earth
No one can get me here’
Then the bulldozers came.
The third verse tell us that the fox, sleeping in its den, was woken up by
the shaking of the ground as the bulldozers approached The fox,
however, was not worried. He felt safe in his hole deep underground The
last begins with ‘then’ which indicates that the fox was actually not safe
from the bulldozers

Setting
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.
The Day the Bulldozers Came by David Orme

forest and the natural habitat of the creatures so that they can live.

Moral Values
1. 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.
2. 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
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.

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
The Day the Bulldozers Came by David Orme

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.

Persona
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
1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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
1. Think about the effect of development on nature
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.
2. Preserve the forest and protect the animals
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