Paper
Gary Snider the American Poet
A spiritual man, conscious of nature and his surroundings. He recognizes good and evil, and struggles to find his own special place in the realm of all other men. He searches far and wide for places of interest , upon arrival, he hopes to find a solemn sanctuary for man and nature.
Gary Sherman Snyder, the son of Harold and Lois Snyder, was born in San Francisco, California, on May 8, 1930. The Family moved quite a few times before they settled down in Portland, Oregon, in 1942. Snyder was granted a lot of freedom at a young age, he was allowed to hike and camp on his own. At thirteen, he was allowed to explore the high country of the Cascade Mountains alone (Magill, Frank p.2668). The solitary experience turned into a fascinating relationship with nature.
Snyder began his education in Portland at Reed College where he received his B.A. in Anthropology in 1951. Later that year, he began to study linguistics and anthropology at Indiana University. Not wanting to write a dissertation to earn a Ph.D. Snyder left the University in 1952, and went to San Francisco to do odd jobs. While in San Francisco he decided he wanted to study Buddhism (Magill, Frank p.2668).
He began to prepare himself for a trip abroad by studying Oriental Culture and Languages from 1953, through 1956, at the University of California Berkeley. Snyder used his summers to work in Baker National Forest and Yosemite National Park (www.english.uiuc.edu). While working in the forests he wrote some of his most famous poetry.
In 1956, Snyder, goes to Japan on scholarship from the Firs Zen Institute of America. In Japan, he lived in the Zen Temple. A year later he began work on a tanker, as a wiper in the engine room. While on the ship Snyder continued to comprise poetry. After his service on the ship he studies Zen under Zen master Oda Sesso Reshi from 1959-65 (www.english.uiuc.edu).
Snyder is very conscious of the environment and has traveled to many Universities to lecture about wilderness issues. Snyder, is well known for his conversation lectures but he has received more credit for his poetry.
Gary Snyder has sixteen publications of which he has been a finalist for the National Book award, and he has won the following: American Book Award for Axe Handles (1983); the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for Turtle Island (1974); the American Academy of Arts and Letters award, the Bollingen Prize, a Guggenhiem Foundation fellowship, the Bess Hokin Prize, Levinson Prize from Poetry, the Robert Kirch Lifetime Achievement Award from the Los Angeles Times, and the Shelly Memorial Award. Since 1990, he has been a professor of English at the University of California, Davis (www.poets).
Gary Snyder has spent most of his life as a transient, traveling to the dismal edges of the earth. Snyder, did so for his personal serenity. His inner peace with himself and nature is obvious in all of his poetry. Gary Snyder’s poetry will take any reader to the exact scene and state of mind the poet was in when he compiled the poem. Gary Snyder’s language, images, and emotions make his book Riprap, a outward bound vacation in the Rocky Mountains.
Snyder, wrote Riprap, while he was backpacking in the Rocky Mountains. Snyder chose this simple, primitive lifestyle as a personal protest against the modern advancements man makes that devistate the environment. By retreating to the woods Snyder, created his own utopia. “His utopia remains a place of social bonds and values that work in an immanent way, unsanctioned in an immanent way, unsanctioned by any larger theological order (Molesworth p. 34).” The title poem, and the last to appear in his compilation is “Riprap.” The poem sums up his trip into nature. The poem explores his spirituality, emotions, and wise worldly beliefs.
The poem “Riprap,” has a special structure that plays a major role in how the poem is read and understood. The poems structure has been keyed a “textual riprap.” The reader, will observe the text construct a path of imagery that allows the reader to go on a visual journey with Snyder.
His spirituality is expressed in the poem when Snyder notices the placement of his surroundings. The stones each, “placed solid, by hand,:” The hand of something much greater than a mortal being. Gary Snyder’s spirituality is unique and he expressed his beliefs by going to nature where he does not feel superior over any of nature’s creations.
The emotions of Snyder is interpreted by the lines “These poems, people, lost ponies with dragging saddles and rocky sure-foot trails.” He describes how he has been lost, wandering in the woods, and even though he is tired and “ dragging saddles,” he will continue to take on the trail. Snyder’s mention of fatigue must be the reason he saved the title poem for the last in his book.
Snyder’s broad ecological understanding has in turn given Snyder a great personal perception of how the world is evolving. This can be highlighted on the final few lines. He knows that all of nature has a background whether “torment of fire and weight,” or “Crystal and sediment linked hot.” Snyder, means all things grow and mature, bond with something attractive, become solid, then will die or be broken down to become a part of something new all together.
Gary Snyder’s images and words paint a beautiful picture in the minds eye and also gives the reader a chance to understand the evolution of nature, not the evolution of man.
A view from another very popular poem in Snyder’s repertoire. “Axe Handles,” is the title poem in the book Axe Handles. The poem is a narrative autobiographical view of Snyder’s life. Snyder does this by mentioning his idols from his youth, and by referring to his son.
“Axe Handles,” indicates that all new things are sculpted by the old. Basically, their idea of the poem is man takes time to mature. At first, man starts as an insignificant being, but over time there is a building of character that is sculpted by mentors and idols.
Snyder, refers to his son wanting to imitate him. Kai, the poets son, is just a hatchet head lying dormant in the shop. Kai, longs to be a hatchet but Snyder explains that it will take time to build and the carpenter will have to have some kind of model to refer to. The implication being that a boy learns to be a man from his father (Murphy p.15). Snyder is confident that Kai will become an axe as well.
Gary Snyder recognizes his influence on how the axe handle will be shaped, and the molding of his son into a man. Snyder recalls his youth, himself a hatchet head in need of a handle and finds the handle pattern in the poet Ezra Pound, the essayist Lu Ji, and the college professor Shish-hsiang Chen (Murphy p.15). Snyder does not refer to his mentors as a hatchet but rather an axe. In his fifties, Snyder also becomes an “axe,” complete in both functions as a “model” and as an instrument in the service of the “craft of culture” (Murphy p.15).
The first section of Axe Handles is Loops, and “Axe Handles” is the first poem to appear in the book.. Loops is an interesting name for the section of the book because the idea of a son being shaped by his father and later in life when he becomes a man and has a child of his own, where he in turn becomes a carpenter of character. Not only does Loops refer to the circle of life , but there is a loop in the book. “Axe Handles,” is also found on the back cover of the book, thereby functioning as the beginning and the end of his collection (Dean p.253). Snyder’s poem, represents how life is a ride that loops back on itself.
Snyder shows his sensitive side in “December at Yase.” One of four poems dedicated to an ex-lover Robin. “December at Yase,” is published in The Back Country. The poet lets his emotions flow about himself growing older, his young love for Robin, and the couple’s break up.
Gary Snyder is full of vivid memories of that day when she chose to be free. Snyder describes it like a picture, both of them on a hill side in tall dry grass close to an orchard. Then the poet puts the scene into action with her quote, “Again someday, maybe ten years.” Next, a memory jumps on the page, it is the first time they meet after the break up.
How awkward the time when the two meet again. Not much was said the love was then dead. Snyder came looking to win her precious love, and so happened he was shot down like a dove.
Only in a dream, he can see her face. He hopes on day she will come to her place. The passion and love “Return to my mind, to my flesh.” He pleads they had what all other want, and realizes he’s a fool for not wanting to be caught.
The poet feels old now, as though he had “lived many lives.” He knows its his fault for craving solemn time. The love he never knew, because the mystery of what’s beyond the blue. Maybe, one day they will find each other again, then he can find out if that is what his “karma demands.”
The emotions are real and the lyrics are sweat. Snyder is fascinating, and has proved he is great. He floats on a cloud somewhere hard to see, and as an eternal hippy he is world renowned.
His ideas are good but the world can not slow down. He is a man who has made a difference and is still traveling around giving conservation seminars.
Другие работы по теме:
Langston Hughes And His Significance As A
Black American And As A Poet. Essay, Research Paper Langston Hughes was famous for his poetry, which helped to fuel the civil rights movement. His poetry also earned him fame but he still seemed to remain financially disabled. He didn’t get much recognition for his poetry until after he died.
Emily DickinsonS I Felt A Funeral In
My Brain? Essay, Research Paper Emily Dickinson?s poem entitled ?I felt a Funeral, in my Brain? is directed towards a death in the speaker?s life. This death could have been a romantic love that had left him or her behind. It seems that they go through a type of struggle that is sort of bound to them.
Strength In Imagination Essay On Robert Frost
’s Poem ‘Birches’ Essay, Research Paper Strength in Imagination In Robert Frost’s “Birches,” a whimsical image that turns fact into fancy illustrates the poet’s power to blend observation and imagination. The poem begins with the capricious image of birch trees bending left and right. The speaker “would like to think some boy’s been swinging them.” (3) The speaker breaks into this daydream with a factual illustration, commenting “Often you must have seen” (5) that ice storms bend the birch branches down to stay.
Poem Du Fu Essay Research Paper It
Poem: Du Fu Essay, Research Paper It is often contended that the greatest and most important works of Chinese poetry was produced during the Tang dynasty. Many critics consider Du Fu to be the greatest Chinese poet during the dynasty and quite possibly of all time. His unique style and mastery of Chinese language is unparalleled.
Hatchet Essay Research Paper Hatchet Gary Paulsen
Hatchet Essay, Research Paper Hatchet Gary Paulsen 9-26-00 13 year old Brian Robinson is going to visit his father. His parents are divorced and his father lives in Canada. Brian has to take a plane to Canada. His mother gives him a gift before he leaves and it is a hatchet that fits on his belt so Brian puts it there.
E E Cummings Essay Research Paper Edward
E E Cummings Essay, Research Paper Edward Estlin Cummings was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts on October 14th, 1894. He was a poet, playwright, prose writer, and painter whose vision found embodiment in an array of artistic devices, where typography, punctuation, grammar, syntax, diction, imagery, and rhythm were often pushed to their limits.
Hatchet Essay Research Paper Hatchet a Gary
Hatchet Essay, Research Paper Hatchet, a Gary Paulsen masterpeice, was the topic of this book report. It was slow moving in developing characters in the beginning, but became more fast pace later on. Hatchet is a story about a young boy named Brian who has to overcome great obsticles including his parents’ divorce and being on a plane while it crashes into the deep forests of Canada.
Dave Mathews Band Essay Research Paper According
Dave Mathews Band Essay, Research Paper According to the American Heritage Dictionary a poet is someone who writes poems. If I were to give my own definition of a poet it would say a poet is someone who can take a group of words and put a hundred different emotions and meanings into them. This is what Dave Mathews does with his lyrics; he takes his emotions and puts them into words.
Walt Whitman Essay Research Paper Walt Whiteman
Walt Whitman Essay, Research Paper Walt Whiteman though himself out to be the poet of American democracy. His poetry described an america where the future had already begun. Whitman believed every individual had as much dignity, and inmportance as anyone else. No job was considered to small or insubordinate.
Modernism Essay Research Paper Modernism described as
Modernism Essay, Research Paper Modernism described as movement in arts would best be described as a movement that was used to unit America after a period of crisis, it did this by it being centered on explorations into the spiritual nature of men and the value of his society and institutions. In a way it was like realism they too focused on the changes on society.
Emerson And The Poet Essay Research Paper
Ralph Waldo Emerson states in The Poet the question, which is what is the poet? He says that all men express their feelings, but what makes a poet is that he has more ability to express his own. For example, a poet would express the beauty of nature well, while men who are less expressive cannot give nature the worth it should be given, related to reality of course.
Response To Gary Soto
’s “Oranges” Essay, Research Paper Response to Gary Soto?s ?Oranges? Children are naturally innocent, and as they get older and experience life, they learn that everything is not always good and sometimes bad things happen to good people. In Gary Soto?s poem, ?Oranges?, this idea is shown through the eyes of a young boy.
Gary Paulsen Essay Research Paper Gary PaulsenBorn
Gary Paulsen Essay, Research Paper Gary Paulsen Born May 17, 1939, Gary Paulsen is one of America’s most popular writers for young people. Although he was never a dedicated student, Paulsen developed a passion for reading at an early age. After a librarian gave him a book to read, along with his own library card he was hooked.
Why I
’m Afraid Of Bees Essay, Research Paper The story starts off with Gary Lutz sitting under his big oak tree in his back yard reading his comic books. Then Gary’s pain in the butt neighbor, Mr. Andretti, keeps scaring Gary by telling Gary that Mr. Andretti’s beehive has gone crazy. Gary falls for it every time because Gary is afraid of bees.
Blackness Essay Research Paper BlacknessWhat is it
Blackness Essay, Research Paper Blackness What is it to be black? What is it to be white? Why are so many people looking to fit under a color s stereotype? To be born black is no longer the only factor or standard of blackness. Langston Hughes is a highly celebrated and commended author of the Harlem Renaissance.
Gary Nash Essay Essay Research Paper In
Gary Nash Essay Essay, Research Paper In the essay written by Gary Nash, he argues that the reason for the American Revolution was not caused by the defense of constitutional rights and liberties, but that of ?material conditions of life in America? were not very favorable and that social and economic factors should be considered as the driving factor that pushed many colonists to revolt.
Two Poems By Emily Dickinson Essay Research
Paper Emily Dickinson wrote many poems in her lifetime. She writes two of my favorite poems. They are: “I heard a Fly buzz when I died” and “Because I could not stop for Death”. They both have similarities and differences from each other.
Stephen Crane Biography Essay Research Paper Stephen
Stephen Crane Biography Essay, Research Paper Stephen Crane Biography Stephen Crane was born in Newark, New Jersey on November 1, 1871. Stephen was the last of 14 children. His father a Methodist Minister died when he was nine. Stephen never cared much for school. He became well known as a social critic, journalist, and as a poet.
Hope Is Pathetic Essay Research Paper Barrett
Hope Is Pathetic Essay, Research Paper Barrett Marum AP. English In the poem Dover Beach, the poet uses conflicting imagery to give meaning to the poem. The differences in the way that the poet sees the relationship between the beach and the sea and the way that most people would see it become more pronounced as the poem develops.
Analysis Langston Huges Theme For English B
Essay, Research Paper The instructor directs the poet to write at home, at night and from the heartand soul of the writer. The instructor is Caucassion, the poet black and or African American. The poet finds it necessary to begin by describing hissurroundings. Harlem is usually a strong sign that the residents are black.He resides at the YMCA showing he is also in a low income bracket.
Poet
’s Use Of Mockery As Diction In Poem Essay, Research Paper Poet’s Use of Mockery As Diction in Poem Tom Dinkel The poet’s use of mockery as diction conveys his disillusioned attitude
Zen Essay Research Paper Gary Snyder spoke
Zen Essay, Research Paper Gary Snyder spoke of the wide blue skies, the prairie, and the nearly forgotten buffalo. Few in this backstabbing artificial-Wall Street World can truly understand man’s bond with nature. Man has stepped from the wilderness into a more dangerous place. A place lacking spirit. The only predators are unpredictable: other men.
Keat And Shelley Essay Research Paper In
Keat And Shelley Essay, Research Paper In Keat?s "Ode to a Nightingale" and Shelley?s "Ode to the West Wind" both poet?s show much inspiration within their poetry. The
Biography Of Wcw Essay Research Paper William
Biography Of Wcw Essay, Research Paper William Carlos Williams (1883-1963), was an American poet, novelist, and physician, who wrote in distinctly American speech about everyday situations. He began writing poetry while a student at Horace Mann High School, at which time he made the decision to become both a writer and a doctor.
FireandIce Essay Research Paper Fire and Ice
Fire_and_Ice Essay, Research Paper ?Fire and Ice? by Robert Frost is an epigram which presents the poet?s dislike of hatred, indifference, and desire that human beings display towards one another. Compressing these feelings into an epigram tends to make his message quite clear and brief. Thus, Frost?s tone in ?Fire and Ice? is somewhat glib and straight to the point?perhaps even slightly stoic.
Poetry And Love Essay Research Paper I
Poetry And Love Essay, Research Paper I never believed that life could be so strange. Now, I am sure that there is no stranger than life. I never believed in love, at least on Hollywood style. Now, I am living a love story. I know it sounds contradictory, but I fell in love with a man whom I never met. I fell in love with a man on the Internet.
American Poet Essay Research Paper Mrs Glasser
American Poet Essay, Research Paper Mrs. Glasser and Mrs. Rau have a lot in common. They?re both English teachers and they both work at Sachem North. They are also married with no kids. But that?s where the similarities stop. They have different opinions and different likes and dislikes.
The Red Wheelbarrow Essay Research Paper William
The Red Wheelbarrow Essay, Research Paper William Carlos Williams was an imagist poet; he wanted to revision poetry in America. His whole theme dealed with visions and images. He opposed general statements and abstract ideas. His poem “The Red Wheelbarrow” was filled with images and ideas that made the poem so easy to visualize.
A Poetry Explication Of Option By Robert
Morgan Essay, Research Paper Poetry Explication Option by Robert Morgan Written in free verse, this poem dramatizes the chance confrontation of a groundhog and terrier.
Emerson And The Transcendentalists Essay Research Paper
Ralph Waldo Emerson was a great essayist. I like reading about Emerson. He was very interesting. His essay “Self Reliance” told me that I could be an individual, a non-conformest. Many people were influenced by him, including Henry David Thoreau, a neighbor in Concord. Mr. Thoreau wrote the famous book Walden, which details his experiences living alone in the woods of Concord, Massachusetts.
Aurora Leigh Essay Research Paper Aurora LeighThe
Aurora Leigh Essay, Research Paper Aurora Leigh The story “Aurora Leigh” is the story of a fictional woman poet. This story was Elizabeth Barret Browning’s greatest achievement. This was the first major poem in English Literature in which the heroine, just like the author was a woman writer. This story had a lot to do with Aurora as a rising poet in a society that did not except woman as artists.
Along Came A Spider Essay Research Paper
James Patterson wrote Along Came A Spider. The genre is adult fiction. It is a good novel because it has a great mystery in it. This novel also has a lesson in it. The lesson is not to tie your family up with your work. The setting in this novel takes place in Washington DC from 1932-1934.