Themes in five more of Snyder's poems in Turtle Island:
The Way West, Underground
Snyder once again criticizes the society of man for having wiped out bears from Europe. Snyder speaks very positively of cultures which have embraced, accepted, or are dependent on bears. This is apparent by how Snyder lists "netting, trapping" alongside "singing holding hands, the while" when describing the Finns (Snyder 5). Snyder also fantasizes about an uprising of bears "with automatic guns" that reverse the evolution of man drives us back into caves. Obviously Snyder believes in the constitutional right to arm bears.
Spell Against Demons
Here Snyder pretty clearly lashes out against the violent tendencies of man, arguing that "the man who has the soul of the wolf/ knows the self-restraint/ of the wolf" (Snyder 16). Snyder explains that though nature also exhibits violence, it is both necessary and restrained, unlike the "aimless executions and slaughterings" (Snyder 16) of man. There are a few typos in this poem, presumably for some unknown purpose of Gary Snyder's; his "spel" (Snyder 17) at the end appears again in his "Smokey the Bear Sutra," where it is translated as: "I dedicate myself to the universal diamond/ Be this raging fury be destroyed."
Gen
This is another of Snyder's poems where he very closely unites his own family with nature, and describes breastfeeding in such a way that it attains an almost spiritual significance: "eyes over dippy nipple/ at the rising shadow sun/ whales of cool and dark" (Snyder 74), relating this action to that which is undertaken by every mammal on the planet, non-human or otherwise.
Toward Climax
The evolution of humans is described intricately and in such a way that society very closely resembles a natural entity, but then man "forget[s] wild plants, their virtues/ lose[s] dream-time/ lose[s] largest size of brain" (Snyder 83), thereby emphasizing that humans were a part of nature, but we went against the natural order and wasted our potential.
Avocado
By comparing the Dharma, or the principle of cosmic order, to an avocado, through his simile in the first line of the poem, Snyder illustrates how humans have a pure "Original Nature" (Snyder 61), which he equates to the avocado seed, but "almost nobody ever splits it open/ or ever tries to see/ if it will grow" (Snyder 61), again hinting at the wasted potential of society; "it looks like/ you should plant it--but then/ it shoots out thru the/ fingers--/ gets away" (Snyder 61).
Snyder, Gary. Turtle Island. New York: New
Directions, 1974. Print.
I really like that you said "right to arm bears," that was clever.
ReplyDeleteAll the poems you chose to write about were a lot of the ones I didn't understand when I read myself. Reading your interpretations have allowed me to understand them a lot more. I agree with your views on The Way West, Underground and Gen. Avocado I still don't understand, but what you said about it is really interesting. It makes the poem a little clearer.