A Few Poems from Gary Snyder

Anasazi pg 3

It Pleases pg 44

Mother Earth: Her Whales pg 47

For nothing p34

                Just taking a brief first glance of a handful of Gary Snyder’s poems some themes jump out immediately. His overwhelming reverence for nature prevails through all of these examples. Snyder also talks about human’s interaction with nature in its varying degrees, as a part of nature or as its enemy or how much human things really matter in the end.                

                In his poem “Anasazi” he creates imagery that wraps you in nature. Pollen gets into your eyes as you wade through fields of grains up to your hips. He describes them as “Gods” to convey his respect and give the reader the feel of being in awe of this place called Anasazi tucked into “hidden canyons.” Snyder is trying to say that life will still go on with women still giving birth if a certain reverence is held for nature and humanity remains humble in the face of nature.

                “It Pleases” put you in the perspective of a bird flying high above the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C., a place of power and respect throughout the world. However, this different perspective shows this place of power as a collection of white brick and blue suits. Snyder is doing this to bring awareness of how little some of our smallest problems are to nature. Snyder is setting up is argument that people need to worry more about something that matters (the Earth) than about silly ideas that create problems themselves.

                “Mother Earth: Her Whales” is Gary Snyder’s attack on how the world is treated by its “robotic” inhabitants. He contests that these hypocrites who used to have reverence, or pretend to have it, towards the earth are harming it to the point of no return as Brazil’s treasures are stripped from the land, Buddhist Japan goes down the path of harm for the environment and the sea. Snyder laments the many loses of nature through ignorance and greed throughout China and North America. Snyder also asks who should be the ones to represent the Earth and her problems because all of the representatives thus far have been false and not truly giving themselves for the environment.

                Lastly Snyder gives his warning of what is to come in “For Nothing” if current attitudes of the environment are not changed. Life is called a flower that is offered to this rock and if the flower is not taken care of this rock will again be dead and lifeless. Just this small series of poems taken from Turtle Island gives a stark picture of what has been given to this Earth and how humanity has quickly begun to spoil it. Gary Snyder calls for swift action by those who are in tune with nature to attempt to mend the wounds wrought by humanity.