More Gary Snyder Analysis

In three poems by Gary Snyder, “Source”, “Straight-Creek—Great Burn”, and “What Happened Here Before”, the themes of disconnection of humans from nature, the fragility of nature, and the ability of man to conquer nature, are apparent.

“Source” (page 26)

In “Source”, Snyder writes of an untouched environment, where all the natural processes remain intact. In this environment, animals roam free, vegetation grows uninterrupted, and the night sky is actually dark. This is what nature would be like if, in Snyder’s words, “no Spaniards ever came”. Snyder is trying to emphasize in his poem that people are detrimental to nature, and that nature is much better off when it is left alone.

“Straight-Creek—Great Burn” (page 52-53)

This poem is about the Straight Creek and that natural area around it. It is described as one big living thing, the Creek represents the veins and the heart, and the plants and animals represent the body and wondering mind. The delicate balance this place has, the birds nearly flying apart, then finding each other, or the trembling, heart like stream, is a metaphor for the fragility of nature. The Straight Creek area has been around for thousands of years hanging on to this balance, and it has been able to do this without human interference. However as soon humans should step in, the area would be thrown out of balance, and the Straight Creek area would suffer terribly.

“What Happened Here Before” (page 78-81)

This poem is basically a history of life on Earth. It starts 300,000,000 years in the past, when everything was just getting started. The periods of time talked about at first are very long (millions of years) where nature is becoming everything that it ever was. What is striking is that, after all these hundreds of million years, humans have managed to claim, conquer, and nearly destroy nature in just 125 years. At the end of the poem, three short lines resonate: “WE SHALL SEE/ WHO KNOWS/ HOW TO BE”.  This is a statement saying that either humans or nature will figure out how to conquer the other and exist while the other dies.