Penelope: The Story of the Half-Scalped Woman--A Narrative Poem (Contemporary Poetry Series) [Paperback]

Penelope Scambly Schott (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 17, 1999 | Series: Contemporary Poetry Series

Narrates the life of a woman shipwrecked in the 1640s on the shores of modern-day New Jersey, axed in the belly, half-scalped and left for dead by the Lenape Indians, then nursed back to health by them and taken into the tribe. And that's only the beginning. Penelope Scambly Schott has carefully researched the facts and woven them into a poetic page-turner.

Editorial Reviews

From Kirkus Reviews

paper 0-8130-1639-8 Convinced of her notion that each story is holy/to someone, Schott versifies a fascinating episode in colonial American history for this narrative sequence: an early settler of present-day New Jersey with the same first name as the poet is nearly killed, then is saved, by the local Lenape Indians. This slight fourth collection by Schott never overreaches, and it wears its historical learning lightlythe Indian words and customs are smoothly integrated into these short-lined poems with their rough rhymes and simple rhythms. Mostly in the voice of her 17th-century namesake, Scott follows her character from childhood as the daughter of a pious Protestant dissenter in England to her eventual flight to Holland, where she meets her first husband and poses for a graven image by a female Dutch artist. After a rough passage to America, Penelopes husband is murdered by Indians, and she herself is nearly eviscerated and partly scalped. Rescued by a sympathetic native, and stitched up by the Indians, Penelope rejoins the Dutch settlers and marries again, only to convince her new husband that they should take their large familyshe bears ten childrento live farther from the city and closer to her Indian friends. Breeding her own tribe, Penelope Stout abandons her faith and seems to go native in response to the generosity of the locals, who warn her family of impending strife. Schotts little poems, for the most part, tell the tale plain, and the author provides a welcome appendix of facts and sources. Some editorial intrusionsa poem, for example, in which Schott bonds with her colonial sistermar an otherwise modest exercise. -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

After Eight Days
After Many Moons
Aground At Sandy Hook
Alive In The Tree
Asleep Beneath The Buttonwood Tree
Big Belly
Blessed By Good Men
Ceremonies Of Safety
Courting
The Deal
The Family Thrives
Gam'wing Festival
A Grandson Remembers Penelope
Haircut
The Half-scalped Woman
He Who Creates Us By His Thoughts
The House With The Fence
Hunger
I Know To Be Careful
I Move Out And In
Iconographies
Indian Medicine
John Richard Stout's Last Will And Testament
Judith's Picture
Judith, Goodbye
Lamentations
Mack Draws Me A Story
The Meadow Plays Its Ah-pee'kawn For Three Penelopes
Misbegotten Voyage
Miscarriage
Misunderstanding Leads To The Pig War
Moccasins
Mother Penelope Is Buried In Middletown In Glory
Penelope And The Painter
Penelope Bears Her Third Living Son
Penelope Keeps Clean
Penelope Kent Was Born
Penelope Kent's Marriage Of Convenience
Penelope Makes Pottery
Penelope Meets The Corn Goddess
Penelope Meets The Painter
Penelope Sees The Rabbits
Penelope Stout Names Her Daughters
Penelope's Grandchildren
Penelope's Great-grandchildren
Penelope's Second Wedding Night
Raising Many Children
Salvage
The Savage Natives Here About
The Warning
We Move Across West River To Middletown
Wedding Present
What The Women Know
-- Table of Poems from Poem Finder® --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 72 pages
• Publisher: University Press of Florida; 1st edition (January 17, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0813016398
• ISBN-13: 978-0813016399
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,452,521 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Penelope, The Story of the Half-Scalped Woman", November 29, 1999

By 

Rebecca Kramer (California, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Penelope: The Story of the Half-Scalped Woman--A Narrative Poem (Contemporary Poetry Series) (Paperback)

"Penelope, The Story of the Half-Scalped Woman" invokes 3 Penelopes. Penelope Schott, its author. Penelope of "The Odyssey", Ulysses' long abandoned and faithful wife, and the Penelope of this true story, an early American settler. Like The Odyssey's Penelope, her tale is told in poetry. Newlywed Penelope arrives from Holland, on the shores of New Jersey in 1640. Her husband is too ill to go further so they are left by their companions. Almost immediately they are set upon by Lenape Indians who kill her husband and leave Penelope half scalped and half dead. She is found by other Indians of the same tribe, where she has found shelter in a hollow tree. Healed and cared for by them, Penelope makes her life among them until she is "rescued" by white settlers with whom she can no longer fit in. Researched carefully from documents and family history, Penelope Stout's tale is one of bravery, both alone and in numbers. Written beautifully, it's a tale thrice told: about Ulysses' Penelope, Penelope Stout, and the story's author Penelope Schott, women whose awareness of life is the same despite the centuries.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Modern verse merges with colonial times, April 25, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Penelope: The Story of the Half-Scalped Woman--A Narrative Poem (Contemporary Poetry Series) (Paperback)

I'm not one for modern verse that breaks lines in the middle of thoughts. But Penelope Schott's book reads easily, and by using the breaks where she does adds the impact (I believe) she's looking for. The story itself is quite dramatic, and Schott's telling gives a good feel for what times must have been like for the difficult life of the subject, Penelope Van Princes. It's not light reading, and it's not one I'd read to my little boys (parts are fairly graphic for young ears). But I enjoyed it. In the preface, Schott apolologizes to the many decendents of "Penelope" for any literary license she used to fill in where facts were missing, and being Penelope's great x 9 grandson, I forgive her, and thank her for bringing to light many aspects of our earliest immigrants.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An honor to Penelope's Courage, June 25, 2007

By 

Mary K. Butler "M Harp" (Minneapolis, MN) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Penelope: The Story of the Half-Scalped Woman--A Narrative Poem (Contemporary Poetry Series) (Hardcover)

I, too, am a descendent of Penelope Stout, and I am a poet.

The poetry in this collection is written with mastery. The collection and the book itself are a work of art that honors a woman's memory, legacy, strengths and struggles. The character development allows the reader and decedents to relate to Penelope as a complex human being, not a flawless hero, which allows us to connect more intimately with Penelope. Schott respects the historical facts and remains well within the boundaries of acceptable creative license to re-create what we do not and cannot know.

I've heard Penelope's legend passed on for years. The nature of ancestral storytelling embraces that we do not and cannot know all the facts, thoughts and motivations. Schott's book honors the nature of such storytelling; it should be read as such.

The book's form and voice have characteristics of an epic poem. The fully developed voice and verse, added to character development, plot, scene, summary and the poetic form give the book layers of complex meaning. It isn't just a story, as most of us who've heard it told over and over know. The story is written with creative skill and attention to historical reference.

I, too, am honored to have her in my lineage, and I encourage the rest of her far-reaching clan to read this masterful work for its unique perspective, the strength of its poetry and its interesting narrative.

I will be honored to pass this book down to my children some day, along with other works written on the subject.