The Sandpiper Lyrics
And that every so often the world is bound to shake.
He runs, he runs to the south, finical, awkward,
In a state of controlled panic, a student of Blake.
The beach hisses like fat. On his left, a sheet
Of interrupting water comes and goes
And glazes over his dark and brittle feet.
He runs, he runs straight through it, watching his toes.
- Watching, rather, the spaces of sand between them
Where (no detail too small) the Atlantic drains
Rapidly backwards and downwards. As he runs,
He stares at the dragging grains.
The world is a mist. And then the world is
Minute and vast and clear. The tide
Is higher or lower. He couldn't tell you which.
His beak is focussed; he is preoccupied,
Looking for something, something, something.
Poor bird, he is obsessed!
The millions of grains are black, white, tan, and gray
Mixed with quartz grains, rose and amethyst.
About
“Sandpiper” is a family of wading shorebirds, the scientific name for which is “Scolopacidae.” The members of this family have characteristically long legs and bill, which they use to probe around in beach rocks and sand in search for insects and other invertebrates that comprise their diet.
These birds are often sighted along the eastern Atlantic seaboard. Elizabeth Bishop was born in Massachusetts and spent a lot of her childhood in Nova Scotia.
Many sandpipers are migratory, traveling huge distances from their breeding grounds in the Northern climes to wintering locations in South America. To fuel their trips, the birds spend weeks before fattening up on a fatty diet of foraged beach invertebrates.
Q&A
Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning
