The Death of Sitting Bear: New and Selected Poems
The Death of Sitting Bear: New and Selected Poems
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Overview
Pulitzer Prize winner and celebrated American master N. Scott Momaday returns with a radiant collection of more than 200 new and selected poems rooted in Native American tradition. “The poems in this book reflect my deep respect for and appreciation of words. . . . I believe that poetry is the highest form of verbal expression. Although I have written in other forms, I find that poems are what I want and need most to read and write. They give life to my mind.”
One of the most important and unique voices in American letters, distinguished poet, novelist, artist, teacher, and storyteller N. Scott Momaday was born into the Kiowa tribe and grew up on Indian reservations in the Southwest. The customs and traditions that influenced his upbringingmost notably the Native American oral traditionare the centerpiece of his work.
This luminous collection demonstrates Momaday’s mastery and love of language and the matters closest to his heart. To Momaday, words are sacred; language is power. Spanning nearly fifty years, the poems gathered here illuminate the human condition, Momaday’s connection to his Kiowa roots, and his spiritual relationship to the American landscape.
The title poem, “The Death of Sitting Bear” is a celebration of heritage and a memorial to the great Kiowa warrior and chief. “I feel his presence close by in my blood and imagination,” Momaday writes, “and I sing him an honor song.” Here, too, are meditations on mortality, love, and loss, as well as reflections on the incomparable and holy landscape of the Southwest.
The Death of Sitting Bear evokes the essence of human experience and speaks to us all.
Product Details
ISBN-13: | 9781094116129 |
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Publisher: | HarperCollins Publishers |
Publication date: | 03/10/2020 |
Product dimensions: | 5.30(w) x 7.50(h) x 0.00(d) |
About the Author
N. Scott Momaday was born in 1934 in Lawton, Oklahoma. A novelist, poet, playwright, teacher, painter, and storyteller, his accomplishments in literature, scholarship, and the arts have established him as an enduring American master. He is the recipient of numerous awards and honors including the Pulitzer Prize, the National Medal of Arts, and the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award for Lifetime Achievement.
Table of Contents
Preface xiii
Part I Bequest 3
In the Forest 4
A Siberian Hunter, Remembrance 5
To the Farther Camps 6
A Darkness Comes 7
A Hero's Burial 8
The Kiowa No-Face Doll 9
A Sloven 10
Alaskan Games 11
A Modest Boast (Toast) 12
A Note on Animals 13
Ago 14
Division 15
The Night Sky at Coppermine 16
Song Fragments 17
For Wallace Stevens 18
The Woman Looking In 19
Transparency 20
Spectre 21
The Great Fillmore Street Buffalo Drive 22
The Snow Mare 24
The Bone Strikers 25
Yahweh to Urset 26
The Essence of Belonging 27
To an Aged Bear 28
The Bear 29
A Benign Self-Portrait 30
Prayer for Words 32
On the Cause of a Homely Death 33
The Blind Astrologers 34
The Pursuit of Man by God 36
Revenant 37
Death Comes for Beowulf 38
The Mythic Harpoon 39
Before an Old Painting of the Crucifixion 40
A Silence Like Frost 42
Angle of Geese 43
Birdsong 44
Shade 45
On the Neva 46
The Whale in Amber 47
The Dragon of Saint-Bertrand-de-Comminges 48
Nous avons vu la mer 49
A Chronicle 50
Before and After 51
The Theft of Identity 52
A Couplet in Tongues 53
Dictum 54
Need 55
JFK 56
Song of Longing 57
Stones 58
Poem After Lunch 59
Approach 60
English, the Language 61
A Story of Light 62
This Train 63
War Chronicle 64
The Rider of Two Gray Hills 65
Visitation at Amherst 66
Fire 67
First Poem 68
Meditation on Wilderness 69
Olga 70
The Galleries 71
Remembering Milosz and "Esse" 72
Death Song 73
Dichos 74
A Witness to Creation 75
Sobremesa 76
Appearances 77
Arrest 79
An Oasis There of Many Colors 80
Afterimage 81
The Listener 82
The First Day 83
Revision of the Plains 84
A Blooming of Appearances 87
Sweetgrass 88
Rustic Dream 89
Severance 90
Seasonal 91
Rough Rider 92
Almost Love 93
On Spring in the Alexander Gardens 94
This Morning the Whirling Wind 95
Part II A Century of Impressions 99
Part III The Death of Sitting Bear 122
Note (on Set-t'an Calendar Entry) 131
Set-t'an Calendar Entry 132
Susquehanna 134
Pigments 136
Linguist 138
Dancers on the Beach 139
Ultimus 140
The Spheres 141
A Presence in the Trees 142
On the Stair 143
Lines for My Daughter 144
There Came a Ghost 145
Nenets 146
A Measure of Rain 147
La tierra del encanto 148
To Gaye 149
Jornada del muerto 150
Octave 151
Yellow the Land and Sere 152
The Window Through Which the Light of a Candle Glowed 153
Torrent 154
Reconciliation 156
A Mythology of Belief 157
Northern Dawn 158
The Pilgrims 159
Babushka 160
A Woman Walking 163
Seams 164
Gamesmen 165
Prairie Hymn 166
Acknowledgments 169