I have always considered Gary Snyder to be the best of the Beat poets because his poems are well-crafted and focus, as he said himself, "on the true nature of things" that truly matter.
The second stanza of the first poem, "After Work" is a particularly beautiful depiction of ordinary, domestic daily life and love:
"we'll lean on the wall
against each other
stew simmering on the fire
as it grows dark
drinking wine."
Does anyone know if he is still alive? The last I heard of him, he was somewhere in Sierra Nevada.
Thanks for these! Snyder has carved out a way of life in which he advises find a place you love, learn it, understand it, preserve it. Possibly my favorite book of his is The Practice of the Wild. Can’t recommend this small volume enough. There’s also a great dvd by the same title available and that is a walking conversation between Snyder and fellow poet/essayist/novelist Jim Harrison. They were life-long friends until Harrison’s death in 2016. Both tied to place, tied to earth.
Poetic Outlaws, thank you for introducing me to Gary Snyder. His weathered features add extra texture to his poems. I'm a city boy, born and raised in the Bronx, New York, but I'm also a nature boy. I took my wife and sons to Walden Pond to walk in the woods and swim in the pond. I love hidden trails and Snyder's words carry a great deal of weight to me. What we give up to have....less.
History and wilderness. Ego and Soul. The metaphor. Do we use it to help our mind make sense of the world outside of us or do we use it to un-name and un-own what language never could.
I love Gary Snyder. I spent a while trying to make sense of the first passage you shared (about holding both history and the wildness) and still not sure what I make of it...
Each of the Snyder poems featured are excellent but my favorite would be #3. What a perfect description of a process which is really no process but a waiting for revelation, for the poem to reveal itself.
Finding magic and meaning in the mundane.
There's beauty in boring.
so true
Exactly.
I have always considered Gary Snyder to be the best of the Beat poets because his poems are well-crafted and focus, as he said himself, "on the true nature of things" that truly matter.
The second stanza of the first poem, "After Work" is a particularly beautiful depiction of ordinary, domestic daily life and love:
"we'll lean on the wall
against each other
stew simmering on the fire
as it grows dark
drinking wine."
Does anyone know if he is still alive? The last I heard of him, he was somewhere in Sierra Nevada.
Gary is in his mid-90’s living outside of Nevada City, CA on the San Juan Ridge.
Thank you, Elizabeth. I'm so glad to hear that!
There are some nice sessions with him and Ping Wang on YouTube
Thanks, Robin, for telling us that. I'll check them out.
Thanks for these! Snyder has carved out a way of life in which he advises find a place you love, learn it, understand it, preserve it. Possibly my favorite book of his is The Practice of the Wild. Can’t recommend this small volume enough. There’s also a great dvd by the same title available and that is a walking conversation between Snyder and fellow poet/essayist/novelist Jim Harrison. They were life-long friends until Harrison’s death in 2016. Both tied to place, tied to earth.
Going to find these
How Poetry Comes To Me
It comes blundering over the
Boulders at night, it stays
Frightened outside the
Range of my campfire
I go to meet it at the
Edge of the light
so spare, the words so carefully chosen and choreographed.
i go to meet it at the edge of the light.
lovely.
expansive.
thank you.
love gary snyder !
a beat legend
Poetic Outlaws, thank you for introducing me to Gary Snyder. His weathered features add extra texture to his poems. I'm a city boy, born and raised in the Bronx, New York, but I'm also a nature boy. I took my wife and sons to Walden Pond to walk in the woods and swim in the pond. I love hidden trails and Snyder's words carry a great deal of weight to me. What we give up to have....less.
I have a very dog eared copy of Earth - House- Hold - literally no Dog bitten Copy - and I always travel with it
History and wilderness. Ego and Soul. The metaphor. Do we use it to help our mind make sense of the world outside of us or do we use it to un-name and un-own what language never could.
Have you read “Distant Neighbors: the collected letters of Wendell Berry and Gary Snyder” ? Beautiful
Thank you for this today.
I love Gary Snyder. I spent a while trying to make sense of the first passage you shared (about holding both history and the wildness) and still not sure what I make of it...
Bring me my feathers and amber
I’m a Dharma Bum - I realized whilst hitching a ride on 101 in Mendocino - BC era - before children - Ukiah is Haiku
Each of the Snyder poems featured are excellent but my favorite would be #3. What a perfect description of a process which is really no process but a waiting for revelation, for the poem to reveal itself.
Very important poet. Magical poems
Good old Japhy Ryder.
INDIAN JOURNALS
People look at the state of me and shake their heads
as though their heads were a pair of maracas
being shaken as percussion to Latin American music
bought as tourists from one of those places
the United States dominates, murdering oppositional
residents, trade unionists in particular
to protect their economic and geo-political interests
My response to their disdain is predictable
I take more drugs, I drink more alcohol
I come on to their wives and girlfriends
I am made breathless by their willingness to judge me
when they never returned the travel book I lent them
Allen Ginsberg, including photographs
of himself and Peter Orlovsky, sundry others
women, cripples, beggars
a papier-mâché Kali, various Swamis
and Gary Snyder, smiling
(wrapped in a dark wool blanket)