To a Child Running With Outstretched Arms in Canyon de Chelly Study Questions & Topics for Discussion

To a Child Running With Outstretched Arms in Canyon de Chelly Topics for Further Study

Observe someone who does not know you are watching them and write a poem about what you see. Use the same rhyme scheme as Momaday uses (abca bcdd).

Compare the ideas expressed in this poem to those expressed in William Wordsworth's "My Heart Leaps Up." What do the two poems tell you about youth? About nature? Does the fact that they were published 175 years apart affect how you understand their meaning, or not?

What is the "spirit" of the canyon that the poem mentions in the final line? What specific words does the speaker use to make you understand that spirit?