Bekah Kuster

Literary Analysis of Scott Momadays The Delight Song of Tsoai-talee

I am a feather on the bright sky

I am the blue horse that runs in the plain
I am the fish that rolls, shining, in the water
I am the shadow that follows a child
I am the evening light, the lustre of meadows
I am an eagle playing with the wind
I am a cluster of bright beads
I am the farthest star
I am the cold of dawn
I am the roaring of the rain
I am the glitter on the crust of the snow
I am the long track of the moon in a lake
I am a flame of four colors
I am a deer standing away in the dusk
I am a field of sumac and the pomme blanche

Bekah Kuster
I am an angle of geese in the winter sky
I am the hunger of a young wolf
I am the whole dream of these things
You see, I am alive, I am alive
I stand in good relation to the earth
I stand in good relation to the gods
I stand in good relation to all that is beautiful
I stand in good relation to the daughter of Tsen-tainte
You see, I am alive, I am alive
In the poem, The Delight Song of Tsoai-talee, Cherokee author Scott Momaday expresses
the connection between man and nature through repetition and rhythm. Momaday uses
anaphora of the phrase I am to represent his connection to all aspects of earth
including the plants and animals that inhabit it. These organisms that make up earth and
its ecosystems are each apart of him. He is merely one with nature, neither there to
control it, nor neglect it. Reverend Harvey Gallagher Cox in the book God is Red by Vine
Deloria Jr. states, Tribal man is hardly a personal self in our modern sense of the word.
He does not so much live in a tribe; the tribe lives in him. He is the tribes subjective
expression. Other Native poets explore this same idea in there poems. Native poet,
Leslie Marmon Silko expresses the idea of connectedness in her poem titled Lullaby,
writing, We are together always/ We are together always/ There never was a time/ when
this/ was not so. She too shows this connected relationship between Nature and humans
through the repetition of We are together always. Puebloan author Simon Ortiz also
writes of this central Native concept in his poem Culture and the Universe saying, Lean
into me./ The universe/ sings in quiet meditation./ We are wordless:/ I am in you. He
writes specifically of the relationship that earth and human have. We are connected to all
aspects of nature through the many species that live in this world with us.
Momaday uses anaphora of the phrase I stand in good relation in the last
stanza to further express the relation he has with nature. He works to support it along
with the rest of the species allowing him to have a strong and whole relationship with the
entirety of Mother Nature and spirit. These bold statements that start each line, show his
confidence in these relationships as he has abided by the belief that we should all live in
harmony with, and support the nature that surrounds us, and is connected inside us. As
Leslie Marmon Silko later writes in her poem Lullaby, The earth is your mother,/ she
holds you./ The sky is your father,/ he protects you./ Rainbow is your sister/ she loves
you./ The winds are your brothers,/ they sing to you. Silko is showing that the Natives
respect Mother Earth and she too respects the Natives, giving them the love and
protection they need to live.

Bekah Kuster
The rhythm that is created by this use of anaphora throughout the poem is
reminiscent of the chants of Native ceremonies. The constant repetition creates a beat like
the beat of a drum, which in Native cultures represents the heartbeat of Mother Earth
("Drums"). His connection to Native ceremonies is another avenue in which he is
connected to the larger systems that make up this greater environment as each drumbeat
is pounded, as each heartbeat is felt.
Momaday begins and ends his last stanza with the line You see, I am alive, I am
alive, again representing that we are all connected from beginning to end; we are a part
of everything, and everything is part of us. He also expresses the idea that one is only
alive if they are in positive relation to others, which is found to be a prevalent perspective
in many Native cultures. All are related is a common phrase used in Native prayers
and ceremonies, which reflects the view of interconnectedness with all of creation
(Wikipedia).
Sources:
Mckosato, Harlan. "Drums: Heartbeat of Mother Earth." Drums: Heartbeat of Mother
Earth. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Feb. 2015. <http://www.nativepeoples.com/NativePeoples/July-August-2009/Drums-Heartbeat-of-Mother-Earth/>.
Rooney, Kathleen. "Culture and the Universe." Poetry Foundation. Poetry Foundation,
n.d. Web. 16 Feb. 2015. <http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/238996>.
Silko, Leslie Marmon. "Lullaby." Poemhunter.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Feb. 2015.
<http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/lullaby-113/>.
Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 18 Feb. 2015.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitakuye_Oyasin#cite_note-py-2>.