belief in ecology and the belief that ancient
cultures held more resolute beliefs about
protection of the environment and, in a sense,
“lead the way” in our understanding and
approach to problems that we face in this domain.
In Snyder’s poetry we see a kind of amnesia, in
“mid-august at sourdough mountain lookout” he
tells us “I can’t remember things that I once
read”.
This "amnesia" is a kind of trance, a kind of
"rip-rap" from being in a perpetual otherly state of
cleansed perceptions. In cold mountain poems, he
tells us "And here I am high on mountains”. He
has gathered a deep affinity with nature and
natural wonders such as mountains and they, in a
sense, sustain and amplify his trance state or
shamanic flight. The focus is material, what
William Carlos Williams called “the poetry of
things”, as Snyder states "all change in thoughts
as well as things" (Reisman, 2012). This is the
deep-seated spiritualism of Synder, "his shamanic
lucidity". Philip Whalen, who was a roommate of
Snyder's and worked at the same mountain as a
summer job, writes in "Sourdough mountain
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