The Sandpiper Poem by Celia Thaxter

The Sandpiper

Rating: 3.1


Across the lonely beach we flit,
One little sandpiper and I,
And fast I gather, but by bit,
The scattered drift-wood, bleached and dry.
The wild waves reach their hands for it,
The wild wind raves, the tide runs high,
As up and down the beach we flit,
One little sandpiper and I.

Above our heads the sullen clouds
Scud, black and swift, across the sky:
Like silent ghosts in misty shrouds
Stand out the white light-houses high.
Almost as far as eye can reach
I see the close-reefed vessels fly,
As fast we flit along the beach,
One little sandpiper and I.

I watch him as he skims along,
Uttering his sweet and mournful cry;
He starts not at my fitful song,
Nor flash of fluttering drapery.
He has no thought of any wrong,
He scans me with a fearless eye;
Stanch friends are we, well tried and strong,
The little sandpiper and I.

Comrade, where wilt thou be to-night,
When the loosed storm breaks furiously?
My drift-wood fire will burn so bright!
To what warm shelter canst thou fly?
I do not fear for thee, though wroth
The tempest rushes through the sky;
For are we not God's children both,
Thou, little sandpiper, and I?

COMMENTS OF THE POEM
David Paradine 13 March 2016

I learned this in the third grade.............1945

4 12 Reply
Nathan 07 October 2018

I learned it in fourth grade

4 7 Reply
Kailyn 25 February 2019

I'm learning this for speech meet! it's so sweet

3 3 Reply
Zayde 27 February 2018

Poem in my school it was way shorter but anyway good job

5 1 Reply
Mary West 04 June 2022

It's been over 72 years & was watching a movie with a beach scene & could still recite

1 0 Reply
brody 13 October 2020

love the poem we say it in my school its very new to me keep up the good work

3 0 Reply
Chinedu Dike 26 October 2019

An insightful rendition nicely embellished with poetic rhyme and rhythm. A beautiful creation..

2 0 Reply
Carol 03 August 2019

I just discovered a handwritten copy of this poem by my Great Aunt Bertha, who would be 150- something years old. It has great meaning to me, as Sandpipers have always been my favorite part of the beach. They seem to come from nowhere, and skitter across the sand, then they are gone!

2 0 Reply
annonymous 04 July 2019

what was the poems main idea i mean what was the poem is all about

3 0 Reply
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Celia Thaxter

Celia Thaxter

Portsmouth, New Hampshire
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