Among the earliest examples of Momaday's postsymbolist, syllabic poems are "The Bear" and "Buteo Regalis," which were written during his first year at Stanford and are the first two in a sequence of animal poems. Both deal with the mystery of nature. Despite the precise rendition of the bear, the animal appears more as the ghost of a disappearing wilderness than a living creature. It displays an intended kinship with Faulkner's Old Ben. "Buteo Regalis," like "The Bear" descriptive in character, captures the flight of a hawk ready for the kill. The elegance of its descent and the prey's instinctive knowledge of danger are combined in a sharp portrayal of nature’s splendor and asperity.