The Ecological Outlook in Gary Snyder’s Poetry

【Abstract】Gary Snyder is a shining star across the world’s literature circle in the 20th century. Though plain， his poems manifested Snyder’s profound ecological concepts of respecting nature， inaction， and Ecological holism. These ideas are integrated of ecological viewpoints， which has formed Snyder’s deep ecological philosophy.

【Key words】Gary Snyder； Respect to Nature； Inaction； Ecological Holism

【作者簡介】陈晶（1989-），女，河南开封人，开封大学，硕士研究生，开封大学助教，研究方向：英美文学。

Owing to his profound ecological thoughts and engagement in the environmental protection activities， Snyder has gained worldwide fame and has been endowed with the title of “Laureate of Deep Ecology”. Among Snyder’s ecological values， the respect to nature， inaction and ecological holism are the most important concepts， which best manifest the ecological outlook in Snyder’s poetry.

1. Respect to Nature.

According to Snyder’s deep ecology thoughts， the respect to nature can be the most fundamental idea. In his eyes， “nature has filled our hearts with trembling respect which has made us grateful and humble.” （Snyder 1969：63） Nature is the subject Snyder has dwelt upon most frequently in his poems and it’s a ceaseless process to fully understand nature. Owing to his respect to nature， Snyder holds a grateful attitude towards it and its unselfish gift presented to human. In his poem “Energy is Eternal Delight”， he stressed that the cycle of water and air is sacred， and nature is the origin of every living thing， thus the energy of nature is the source of our delight.” （Snyder 1999： 254）

Snyder’s respect to nature can be best shown in his concepts on poem creation. “Riprap”， as the last poem in Snyder’s maiden work Riprap published in 1959， shares the same title with the poems collection， which the poet’s ideas on poem creation through his harmonious interaction with nature. The poem has proved that the poet’s writing source comes from the nature. It also contains the deliberation on the ecological function of poems on human and nature， that is， nature is the source of literary creation. The mission of poets is to combine nature with human soul. In general people’s eyes， nature is the material world and the object of their material desire. And the poets’ work is to reveal the living sense， spiritual charm and divinity connotation of nature， at the same time， transform the poems into a means of communication with nature and spiritual engagement of human soul with nature.

2. Inaction

Snyder thinks that it is people’s unceasingly increasing pursuit of economic growth that has caused the damage on nature and finally led to the current tension between human and nature. In the article of “Four Changes”， he said， “History has proved again and again that the unceasing economic growth is not a healthy matter， but cancer.” （Snyder 2002： 39） Based on his deep ecological concepts， Snyder advocates inaction to maintain a close-to-nature lifestyle.

Snyder’s poem “Mid-August at Sourdough Mountain Lookout” vividly reveals the principle of inaction. In the poem， “I”， the only figure has stayed in the mountain and enjoyed the simple life there. Once living in the mountain， “I cannot remember things I once read” and “I” only have a few friends， but they all live in the cities. The phenomenon of losing memory about the things before shows the poet’s preference of natural life here. The direct receive of nature’s gift is the real practice of inaction. Tin cups are rough and primitive. They represent the poet’s eagerness to keep close with nature and become totally immersed in it. In this way， people will become innocent， far from the mundane affairs. The closer one maintains with nature， the more naïve one will be and the easier it is to understand and experience Zen.

3. Ecological Holism

In Snyder’s ecological concepts， the most difficult task to do is to make every living thing stay at its place. That is a state of universal harmony. Snyder has regarded himself as the protector of biodiversity and integrity of ecological evolution. “My foothold is the biological diversity and the integrity of ecological evolution on earth…that is also the foothold of poets—son of Muse， singer of reason， people who create colorful and enlightening materials.” （Snyder 1990：30）

Since the mission of people is to protect the natural world， any living things including trees and wild animals are equally significant as human. Snyder thinks that “to some extent， life has no rank， and the life of rocks and grasses are as beautiful， smart and valuable as the life of Einstein.” （Snyder 1980： 17） In the poem “Pine Tree Tops”， Snyder has pointed out how stupid people are in order to arouse their awareness of ecological wholeness. The poem follows the same pattern with Snyder’s other poems to start with the description of natural images： “blue night”， “frost haze”， “pine tree tops” and “bend-snow”. Blue has a sense of mystery， which aims at showing the miraculous and mysterious nature people seldom know.

Under such circumstance， the sound like creak of boots is heard. Undoubtedly， it was deemed as the sound of human at first. However， there are rabbit tracks and deer tracks left on the ground， which has proved that the sound was not made by human activity but animals. The mistake is what we as human always would make， because we see ourselves as the subject of nature. In fact， we are only a common object. But it’s a pity that we fail to realize it. As a result， the poet sighs at the end of the poem “what do we know”. Apparently， the poet is to awaken people’s sense of ecological wholeness by deliberating the ability and position of themselves.

Snyder has developed his own deep ecology philosophy. The respect to nature， inaction， and Ecological holism， are the fundamental ideas of Snyder’s ecological concepts， which have strengthened the power and importance of nature and at the same time， have scrutinized the misconception of human.

References：

[1]Snyder， Gary. Earth House Hold[J]. New York： New Directions， 1969.

[2]The Gary Snyder Reader： Prose， Poetry and Translation1952-1998 [J].Washington，D. C. Counterpoint，1999.

[3]The Real Work[J]. New York： A New Directions Book，1980.

[4]Look Out. A Selection of Writings[J]. New York： New Directions， 2002.

[5][美]斯奈德，林耀福.山即是心.梁秉鈞编译[M].台北：联合文学出版社，1990.