The Way to Rainy Mountain
The following passage stands out as I read further into N. Scott Momaday's book:
Axioms of thought which result:
An object exists.
A word binds definition to an object.
A poem bends words into metaphor.
A prayer sends poems to the Divine.
All languages wind prayers out of phonetics.
A name holds the living to this world; until the Divine aspect releases it.
Pages of a book display wings when the text is burnt; the paper flutters, beating rapidly in the flames. Burning a book translates its form to the divine.
A word has power in and of itself. It comes from nothing into sound and meaning; it gives origin to all things. By means of words can a man deal with the word on equal terms. And the word is sacred. A man's name is his own; he can keep it or give it away as he feels. Until recent times, the Kiowas would not speak the name of a dead man. To do so would have been disrespectful and dishonest. The dead take their names with them out of the world (33).
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An object exists.
A word binds definition to an object.
A poem bends words into metaphor.
A prayer sends poems to the Divine.
All languages wind prayers out of phonetics.
•
A name holds the living to this world; until the Divine aspect releases it.
•
Pages of a book display wings when the text is burnt; the paper flutters, beating rapidly in the flames. Burning a book translates its form to the divine.
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