Momaday, mentored by Ivor Winters, was necessarily influenced by his philosophies and style. But Momaday's love of poetry precedes his study with Winters. The antiromantic literature of Frederick Goddard Tuckerman, a contemporary — and intellectual opposite — of the transcendentalists, and of Emily Dickinson are also clear forerunners to his poetry. Of her, Momaday notes that she taught him about "the mystery and the miracle of language" and about capturing the sense of human isolation, tragic finality and intellectual survival.

In addition to his study of the antiromantic poets, Momaday was also clearly influenced by the Symbolists.

Indeed, Winters calls their poetry "post-Symbolist," which also included Wallace Stevens and Valery. Their influences are seen most clearly in his earlier poems.

Finally, he attributes writers such as William Faulkner and Isak Dinesen with teaching him how to tell an involving story which draws the reader into a...