The Back Country

Gary Snyder

The Back Country

Poetry by Gary Snyder

“A reaffirmation of a back country of the spirit” (Kirkus Reviews), this collection is made up of four sections: “Far West” — poems of the Western mountain country where, as a young man, Gary Snyder worked as a logger and forest ranger; “Far East” — poems written between 1956 and 1964 in Japan where he studied Zen at the monastery in Kyoto; “Kali” — poems inspired by a visit to India and his reading of Indian religious texts, particularly those of Shivaism and Tibetan Buddhism; and “Back” — poems done on his return to this country in 1964 which look again at our West with the eyes of India and Japan. The book concludes with a group of translations of the Japanese poet Miyazawa Kenji (1896-1933), with whose work Snyder feels a close affinity. The title, The Back Country, has three major associations: wilderness, the “backward” countries, and the “back country” of the mind with its levels of being in the unconscious.

Paperback(published Jun, 01 1971)

ISBN
9780811201940
Price US
14.95
Price CN
16
Page Count
150

Ebook(published Jun, 01 1971)

ISBN
9780811222808
Portrait of Gary Snyder

Gary Snyder

Contemporary American beat poet, essayist and environmental activist