Dream Drawings

Configurations of a Timeless Kind

N. Scott Momaday

• Publisher: Harper Perennial
• Year: 2022
• Print ISBN: 9780063218116
• eBook ISBN: 9780063218123
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: 21st Century History
• Index: Literature

“[Momaday] must be ranked among the greatest of our contemporary writers.”—American Scholar

"Momaday’s poems are rich with description, lush with dreaming, and filled with magic." — Library Journal (starred review)

From Pulitzer Prize winner and revered literary master N. Scott Momaday, a beautiful and enchanting new poetry collection, at once a celebration of language, imagination, and the human spirit.

“Language and the imagination work hand in hand, and together they enable us to reveal us to ourselves in story. That is indeed a magical process. . . . We imagine and we dream, and we translate our dreams into language.” —from the Preface

A singular voice in American letters, Momaday’s love of language and storytelling are on full display in this brilliant new collection comprising one hundred sketches or “dream drawings”—furnishings of the mind—as he calls them. Influenced by his Native American heritage and its oral storytelling traditions, here are prose poems about nature, animals, warriors, and hunters, as well as meditations that explore themes of love, loss, time, and memory. Each piece, full of wisdom and wonder, showcases Momaday’s extraordinary lyrical talent, the breadth of his imagination, and the transformative power of his writing. Dream Drawings is also illustrated with a selection of black-and-white paintings by Momaday that capture the spirit of his prose.

Poignant, inspired, and timeless, this is a collection that will nourish the soul.

Contents

Cover

Title Page

Publisher’s Note

Dedication

Preface

The Original Storyteller

On Dreaming

Centaur

To Hold the Sun

The Scop

The Spiritual Gravity of Place

The Realization of Nothing

Guests

The Moonlight Passage

The Speech

To Mrs. Charles T. Bucket of Greenfield, Massachusetts

The Visitors

The Capture

The Close

The Dark Amusement of Bears

The Shadow of a Name

Landscape with Clouds

The Birthright

A Mantra

Observations

Ownership

Song of the Journey

Configurations of a Timeless Kind

Beat the Drum Slowly

Dreaming Bear Speaks

Merger

Time and Essence

Chivalry

The Night Dance

A Spell for Setting Out

An Act of Mercy

The Woman Who Held Sway

To Speak of Nothing

The Mask

The Hollow Log

In the Telling

The Woman at the Glass Door

On the Imagination

Passage

The Shield That Came Home

The Zebra Report

The Marrowbone Manuscript

A Profound Evasion

Witches

The Ice Woman

The Visions of Stone Carrier

Pai-mahtone

Th...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Publisher’s Note
• Dedication
• Contents
• Preface
• The Original Storyteller
• On Dreaming
• Centaur
• To Hold the Sun
• The Scop
• The Spiritual Gravity of Place
• The Realization of Nothing
• Guests
• The Moonlight Passage
• The Speech
• To Mrs. Charles T. Bucket of Greenfield, Massachusetts
• The Visitors
• The Capture
• The Close
• The Dark Amusement of Bears
• The Shadow of a Name
• Landscape with Clouds
• The Birthright
• A Mantra
• Observations
• Ownership
• Song of the Journey
• Configurations of a Timeless Kind
• Beat the Drum Slowly
• Dreaming Bear Speaks
• Merger
• Time and Essence
• Chivalry
• The Night Dance
• A Spell for Setting Out
• An Act of Mercy
• The Woman Who Held Sway
• To Speak of Nothing
• The Mask
• The Hollow Log
• In the Telling
• The Woman at the Glass Door
• On the Imagination
• Passage
• The Shield That Came Home
• The Zebra Report
• The Marrowbone Manuscript
• A Profound Evasion
• Witches
• The Ice Woman
• The Visions of Stone Carrier
• Pai-mahtone
• The Shape Shifter
• Belief
• On Horseback He Sings
• The Instrument
• Alexander and Bucephalus
• The Poet’s Muse
• The Hat
• The Shout
• The Meadow
• The Octopus Dreaming
• Arfig the Witch
• The Explorer
• Prints
• A Dream of Becoming Old
• A Stroke upon the Earth
• Miss O’Keeffe of Abiquiu
• The Whisperer
• The Death of Beauty
• Transparency
• Shadow
• Prayer to the Sun
• Banter
• The Breath of the Infinite
• Through a Lens of Cold
• The Green Stick
• The Ghost of Adam Meagre
• Confusion
• The Intruder
• To a Child This Gift
• The Tyranny of Time
• Blood Memory
• Imposture
• Handprints
• The Portrait of Spencer Kohl
• Crows
• The Burning
• A Stone for Singing
• One Hunter
• The Efficacy of Prayer
• The Ultimate Dream
• A Moral Equation in Art
• Forewarned
• Madness
• Facets of Discourse
• Sunrise
• The Wall
• A Woman’s Voice
• The Child’s Discovery
• The Griever
• The Whirlwind
• The Reading
• The Piano Teacher
• World Renewal
• End Note
• About the Author
• Also by N. Scott Momaday
• Copyright
• About the Publisher