The death of Sitting Bear : new and selected poems

Momaday, N. Scott, 1934-2024 author.

First edition.

Book

New York, NY : Harper, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, [2020]

xvii, 167 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

"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 upbringing--most notably the Native American oral tradition--are 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"-- Provided by publisher.

Satank, Kiowa Chief, 1810-1871 -- Poetry.

Indians of North America -- Poetry.

Poetry.

Poems. Selections

Bequest -- In the forest -- A Siberian hunter, remembrance -- To the farther camps -- A darkness comes -- A hero's burial -- The Kiowa no-face doll -- A sloven -- Alaskan games -- A modest boast (toast) -- A note on animals -- Ago -- Division -- The night sky at Coppermine -- Song fragments -- For Wallace Stevens -- The woman looking in -- Transparency -- Spectre -- The great Fillmore streed buffalo drive -- The snow mare -- The bone strikers -- Yahweh to Urset -- The essence of belonging -- To an aged bear -- The bear -- A benign self-portrait -- Prayer for words -- On the cause of a homely death -- The blind astrologers -- The pursuit of man by God -- Revenant -- Death comes for Beowulf -- The mythic harpoon -- Before an old painting of the Crucifixion -- A silence like frost -- Angle of geese -- Birdsong -- Shade -- On the neva -- The whale in amber -- The dragon of Saint-Bertrand-de-Comminges -- Nous avons vu la mer -- A chronicle -- Before and after -- The theft of identity -- A couplet in tongues -- Dictum -- Need - JFK -- Song of longing -- Stones -- Poem after lunch -- Approach -- English, the language -- A story of light -- This train -- War chronicle -- The rider of two gray hills -- Visitation at Amherst -- Fire -- First poem -- Meditation on wilderness -- Olga -- The galleries -- Remembering Milosz and "Esse" -- Death song -- Dichos -- A witness to creation -- Sobremesa -- Appearances -- Arrest -- An oasis there of many colors -- Afterimage -- The listener -- The first day -- Revision of the plains -- A blooming of appearances -- Sweetgrass -- Rustic dream -- Severance -- Seasonal -- Rough rider -- Almost love -- On spring in the Alexander gardens -- This morning the whirling wind -- A century of impressions -- The death of Sitting Bear -- Note (on Set-t'an calendar entry) -- Set-t'an calendar entry -- Susquehanna -- Pigments -- Linguist -- Dancers on the beach -- Ultimas -- The spheres -- A presence in the trees -- On the stair -- Lines for my daughter -- There came a ghost -- Nenets -- A measure of rain -- La tierra del encanto -- To Gaye -- Jornada del muerto -- Octave -- Yellow the land and sere -- The window through which the light of a candle glowed -- Torrent -- Reconciliation -- A mythology of belief -- Northern dawn -- The pilgrims -- Babushka -- A woman walking -- Seams -- Gamesmen -- Prairie hymn.

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