Crazy Horse In Stillness (American Poets Continuum) [Hardcover]

William Heyen (Author)

Book Description

Series: American Poets Continuum | Publication Date: January 1, 1995

This collection of poems explores the collision between a civilization of western time and one of primal timelessness.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

For Heyen, Crazy Horse embodied the spirituality of Native American culture as well as the fierce passion of a people under attack. The stillness of Crazy Horse would cause the air and the words around him to hum with an energy these poems echo in soft, intense vibration. Indeed, for Heyen, Crazy Horse seems to function as a muse in the ether, guiding the rhythm and topic of each poem. Heyen also includes many poems about Elizabeth Custer, left at home and reading the letters of her battle-weary husband, painting a portrait of Iron Horse, and remembering fragments of her life. Finally, Heyen draws apt parallels between General Custer and Crazy Horse, giving the collection thought-provoking as well as lyrical qualities. Elizabeth Millard

Review

$
134
1950: The Head
A.d., First Light
Accountability
After Rosebud: The Staring
After The Fetterman Massacre, 1866: Woodcutters
After The Indian Camp Was Burned
After-image
Allies
The American Civil War
The Ancient Forest
The Animal
Annuities
Annuity Supplies, 1877
The Answer
The Antelope
Anticipatory Breach
Aquifer
The Army
Ars Poetica
As Best He Could
The Ascent
Association Of Sensibility
At Source
Awakening
Awls
The Bead
The Bear
The Bear
Bear & Cubs
Beast In Twilight
The Bees
Beets: Custer To Elizabeth From The Wichita Mountains, 1869
Before
Before The Attack On Our Camp, 1867
Being
Being Here
Belden On Civilization
Belden On The Poisoned Arrow
Belden: The Warclub
Beyond Culture
Bia
The Big-horn
The Birth Of Crazy Horse
Black Buffalo Woman
The Blessing
Blood Source
The Body
Body Language
Bone & Velvet
Bourke: Rosebud Battle Scene
Bourke: Rosebud Moon Taunt Lure
Bourke: Shadow Memory
Bourke: The Rattlesnake
Bowl
Brackets
Breasts
The Bride
Brothers
Buffalo Commons: The Spiral
Buffalo Dusk
Buffalo Sunrise
Bugle
Calf Amber
The Calls: Elizabeth To George From Fort Lincoln, May 1876
The Calves
Camera Obscura
Captain Bourke Describes Crazy Horse In 1877
Captain Gibson Of Benteen's Batallion
The Capture Of Moscow
Cash
Catlin Painting
Charades At Fort Abraham Lincoln, 1874
The Charm
Circle
Clef
The Closing
Cockroach Rainbow
Coils
Collective Unconscious
Colors Of Crazy Horse In Battle
Colors: Custer Describes A War Party
Coming In
Companions
Confluence
A Context For Riffs
Cooper Institute, N.y.c., 1870
The Cord
Correspondences
The Count
Cradleboard
Crazy Horse & Custer In Cottonwood Spring
Crazy Horse In Love
Crazy Horse In Stillness
Crazy Horse Laughs
Crazy Horse Mnemonic
Crazy Horse Nauseous
Crazy Horse Tells Frank Grouard His Dream
Crying News
Cubs
Curly Watches A Storyteller, 1850
The Curse
Custer & Santanta's Son At Target Practice
Custer Altamira
Custer Daydreaming
Custer Daydreaming
Custer Declines To Sit For A Marble Bust
Custer Describes His Mind
Custer Discovers Thermodynamics
Custer From His Grave
Custer In Cyberspace
Custer On Poker
Custer Receives His Name, 1868
Custer To His Sister, April 20, 1862
Custer Writing The Dialect Of Plainsman Comstock
Custer, Around A Civil War Campfire: 1. (cannibals)
Custer, Around A Civil War Campfire: 2. (corpse Evidence)
Custer, Bootless
Dakota A.d.
Dakota Memory
Dam
Decades Later Elizabeth Remembers The Toads
Decades Later Elizabeth Remembers The Toads
December 29, 1890
December 29, 1890
The Decision
Deconstruction
Deer Engine
Desert Moths
Desire
Dildo
Dinner Bell
Directions
Discovery
Disequilibrium
Disk Text
Dixon: The Altar
Dodge On Deposition
Downwind
Dr. Mcgillicuddy On Crazy Horse
Drying Grass Moon, 1877
Duration
During The Moon Of Snow Blindness In What Is Called The Year
Dust
Earring
Echoes
Eclipse
Elizabeth Considers Her Husband At Thirty-five
Elizabeth Considers The Hounds
Elizabeth Descibes Gatling's Gun
Elizabeth In Gossamer Sleeplessness
Elizabeth In New York Fifty Years Later
Elizabeth Meets Star-of-the-north
Elizabeth On Odorless Wildflowers
Elizabeth Remembers Flood
Elizabeth Remembers Tenting On The Plains
Elizabeth Remembers The Regiment
Elizabeth Remembers The Trees
Elizabeth's Dream, 1890
Elizabeth: The Legend Of Rain-in-the-face
Elizabeth: The Sharpening
Elizabeth: The Shorning
Epaulets
Epistemology
Evening Heart Angel Ascension
Events In Time
Evolution
Except
Exclamation Mark
The Eye
Eyes Glazing Over
Faith
The Fashion
Fast
Feathers
Fifth Avenue
First Translation: The Warning
The Fish
The Fish
Fisherman
Flame
Flashbacks To Her Husband's Study
Flattery
Flattery
Footnoted
Forces
Foreknowledge
The Fossil
The Frontier
Furnace
Fusion
The Gambler
The Gelding
Geometry
George Belden: The Simplest Form
George E. Hyde On Agrarian Progress In Nebraska
Ghost's Dance: A Prophecy
Ghosts
God Does Not Plow
Goes-ahead: A Reminiscence
Good News
Government Protection
Grasshopper Sperm
The Grave
Grinding Stone
Grouard: Baby Birds & Wild Turnips
Grouard: Baby Birds & Wild Turnips
Grouard: The Chickens
Grouse
The Gully
The Gully
The Gun: A Romance
The Hairy Child
Heat
Heaven
Her Husband In Moonlight
The Herd
The Hill: A Crow Scout's Story
His Song
Historical Ambiguity
History
The Holy
Home Body
Horns
Hot Battle Cold Shower Custer
Human Interest
Hunger Cadet Hangover Animals
Hunger Song
The Hunt
The Husband: Custer To Elizabeth From Manhattan, 1871
Hygiene
In Texas,
In This Dimension
Incident
Interlude
Intimations
The Iron Horse
Jack-in-the-box
The Jay
Job
Joe Debarthe On Custer's Death
June 25, 1876
The Keeping
The Key
Killing Time
L.a. Freeway
Lakota Eye
Lds
The Leatherstocking Tales
Leaves Of Horse
Legend
Letter To Elizabeth From The Black Hills, August 2, 1874
Lice
The Lightning
Lilies
Lily
Live Oaks, 1870
Loneliness: Letter To Elizabeth, June 17, 1876
Looney Tunes
Luck
Luggage
Main Street Footnote
March 17, 1876: The Ponies
Meaning
The Meat
Medicine
Medicine
Meditation
Memoir: Pretty Voice Eagle, 1909
Meotzi & Elizaabeth
Mfa Tqm
Microcosm
The Migration
Mind's Eye
Misc. Mss.
Misery
Mixed Scatology Metaphor Etymological
Modern Art
Modesty: Custer To Elizabeth From Manhattan, 1871
Mother
The Mouse
Muse Food
Mushroom River
Musket Dragon Sleep
The Mystical
N
National Debt: Custer To Elizabeth From Virginia, 1864
Nearer To Thee
Necessities
Night Rain: The Sleepers
Night, Sleep, Death And The Stars
Night: The Dead & The Living
Now
Objet D'art
Officer Hours
An Officer's Story
Old Testament
On The Evening Of The 29th
One Word
One World
One World
Our Sound & Souvenir
Owl Winter
Paha Sapa
The Paper It's Written On
The Passive
Past Manure Perfect
Patent Office
Patriot 1890
Paunch
Peace Papers
Pebble
Pennsylvania Avenue
Perspective
Place
Placefulness
The Planting
The Planting
Play
Poem
Poison
Pollen
Postlude
Power
Pralines
Preamble: The Rifle
Presence
President Literacy
Proverb
Puritan Angels
Quasar
The Quiver
Raisins
The Rapture
Rattle
The Ravens
Recommendation Of The Commissioner Of Indian Affairs, 1877
Red
Red Cloud's Demands, 1875
The Release
Reluctance: Grouard & The Bull Buffalo
Remembrances
Repast
Report To The Commissioner Of Indian Affairs
Repossession
Resignation In Autumn Rain
The Resolution
Resolve, 1876
Restoration: Alfalfa Woodstock 1994
The Return
Revelations
Richard Irving Dodge: Love Memoir
Riding Away With Black Buffalo Woman At Last
The Rock
Rock & Roll
Rock Custer
Rocking Chair
Rods & Cones
Romance
Root Music
Ropes
Rot
Rounds
Rout Route
Sacred Object
Saint Custer
Sardonics: A Brief History Of The Campaign
Savings Account
Scalp Lock
Scenarios
Scherzo Honeymoon Incident, 1864
Scout Frank Grouard Describes Crazy Horse, 1873
Seeing
Seeing & Knowing: Grouard's Testimony
Semicolon Gene Calves: Pool & Place Data
Sepulchral Boughs
The Sexes
Shadows
Sheridan On Custer At The Battle Of Yellow Tavern, 1864
Shoals
Short Bull On Photographs Of Crazy Horse, 1930
Signals
The Sioux Watch The First White Man Demonstrate His Weapon
Sitting Bull's Reply To A Summons, 1875
The Sleigh
The Slowing
Slush
Snow Maggots
Snowbirds
Snowblind
Something About The Indians
Sorrow Village
Souls
The Spider
The Stage Stations
The Steadying
Stepping In Footsteps: Lieutenant Godfrey's Account
Still Life
Stone River
The Streams
Subsequent Events
Super Collider
Surveyors
Swerve
The Swimmer
Sympathetic Magic
Tarot
Taxidermist: Elizabaeth Misreads One Word In A Letter From
Teeth
Temperance
Terror
Testimony: Private Charles Windolf
Texas Gulliver Malaria
Thereafter
These Seeds
Thespians
This Creature
Thistle Elizabeth
The Thought
Three Days Later
Three Days Later
The Thrill Of White History
Tick
Tidings
Tigers
Time
Time
Timefulness
Timewarp
Toilette
The Token
Tongue
Tongues
The Tooth
The Trail
Trance
Trance
Treaty
Trepidation
Triple Helix
The Twitch
The Two Instincts
Unbeknownst
Unknown
Unknown To Him
V
Vellum Elm
Venison
Verdi
Visit To Central Park
Visitor
Voice
Wagon Gun
Wakan Tanka
The Waking
The Wallow
Wedding Reception
Welcome
The Wheel
Where The Herds Are Born
White & Gold
The White Disease: Testimony Of Richard Irving Dodge
White Place Names
White Powder
Wife
Wildcat
Willow
The Wind
Wingdust
Winter Mind
Wolverine
Words Of Goes-ahead Translated & Transcribed By Dr. Dixon
The Writing Life: Elizabeth To George From Fort Lincoln
X
Zygote
-- Table of Poems from Poem Finder®

Product Details

• Hardcover: 275 pages
• Publisher: BOA Editions Ltd.; 1st edition (January 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1880238284
• ISBN-13: 978-1880238288
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,096,958 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Romancing the history, April 2, 2002

By 

"miltbrann" (Scandinavia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Crazy Horse In Stillness (American Poets Continuum) (Hardcover)

It's quite odd, I'll admit, to write a pretty thick book of poetry and solely deal with one specific historical event. For the common man it sounds like it's easy for the poet to shoot himself in the foot many times if he is to make dry history into poetic language. This book shows that it is indeed possible to make great poetry of it after all.

Heyen has his own vocabulary throughout the book and manages to make historical figures all fit into his special universe, like everybody turned up on his writingdesk and got special instructions from Heyen on how they should react to special things. The remarkable is that Heyen stays very true and close to historical facts and is accurate, as far as I can trace him, throughout the book.

Of course Heyen, through the two protagonists Custer and Crazy Horse, makes it almost a fight between industrialization and nature, civilisation against free spirit. Heyen knows well that in todays society Custer is the winner, but still the other part of us still want to be free, perhaps only in different ways than C.H.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A very beautiful, perceptive book, August 1, 2000

By 

W. Price "poems&things" (Minneapolis, MN) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Crazy Horse In Stillness (American Poets Continuum) (Paperback)

Mr. Heyen's perceptive and beautiful piece of work is a joy to read. Pieces are very touching, and other pieces very funny. Heyen is a witty and intelligent writer. His deep knowledge of and empathy with the historical facts contribute to the understanding and compassion throughout his book. Most of the short poems resemble tiny stories, quick pictures of Crazy Horse, his friends and enemies, Custer, Mrs. Custer, all those folks from that time out there. Heyen writes uncomplicated and lovely prose poems. You don't need to know the facts of the Little Big Horn to enjoy Heyen's poetry, though it helps to know he has his facts right. His emotions are in the right place too. You can enjoy this book even if you have never read a poem since high school. It reads damn good.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Crazy horse in Stillness, March 30, 2000

By 

janet nittmann (Massachusetts,United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Crazy Horse In Stillness (American Poets Continuum) (Paperback)

Very touching poems about the brave and spiritual Crazy horse. Some poems have a sense of eeriness while most are understandable. Overall it is a good book which deserves at least 3 stars or 4.