Lines 1-3:

In the poem's opening lines as well as in its title (an important piece of information, especially in a poem as short as this), Momaday both addresses and describes a child at play in the canyon. Perhaps the "small and intense" child may be the poet recalling himself as a young boy as he ran in Canyon De Chelly, or perhaps the poem is addressed to one of Momaday's four daughters. The language of these initial lines conjures up a sense of child-like joy: words such as "intense," and "excitement," and phrases such as "embodied in delight" capture both the sense of wonder and the limitless possibilities of childhood.

Line 4:

Here, the "backdrop" to which Momaday refers is both physical and historical. On a physical level, the canyon walls and other natural scenery form a natural backdrop which seems to dwarf the figure of the small...