Gary Snyder: Zen and Primitivism

Abstract

This thesis, through the medium of explication of specific poems, attempts to reveal Snyder's involvement with am use of Zen and primitivism in his written work. The poems explicated are not necessarily chosen to be generally representative of Snyder's style, nor his ·growth as a poet. Much of Snyder's poetry does not lend itself to detailed analytical (dualistic) explication. Rather, I have chosen poems which facilitate analytical explication, but which illustrate Snyder's various involvements with Zen and primitivism.