Friday, September 14, 2012
Even More Themes in Turtle Island
Gary Snyder's Turtle Island is filled with poems that are focused on human impact on the the planet and bioregionalism. Through his poems, Snyder emphasizes the need for a change in the human interaction with Earth. Today, I read "Control Burn," "Why Log Truck Drivers Rise Earlier Than Students of Zen," and "O Waters." These poems have a theme of humans versus nature in that they highlight some of the effects the human race has on the planet. Additionally, at the end of "O Water,"there are two words that I had never seen before -- "sangha" and "polemonium."Out of curiosity, I looked up the meaning to both of the words. The first one is a buddhist community of monks and nuns. The second is a low-growing, foul-smelling plant in Arctic areas. Snyder mentioning the sangha and the snowfields melting made me think that one of the themes within this book could be self versus society -- people need to stand up against the wasteful, snow-melting majority and live more naturally, as a monk would.
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Snyder talks about the negative impact humans have on nature in many of his poems. I knew from one of his sources that he had a Buddhist background. I never thought about how one of the themes could have been self vs. society. That is a very good point.
ReplyDeleteI also found references to Snyder's history with Buddhism when he mentions traditional prayers that they chant. "'One should not talk to a skilled hunter about what is forbidden by the Buddha'" talks of seemingly two Buddhist researchers that have found a dead fox and are finding aluminum in its body. it shows a stark example of the damage individuals have on nature through littering
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