Critical Conversation: Gary Snyder and Image
Gary Snyder: Born on May 8th 1930 in San Francisco California, is best known for his contribution to the beat poet generation with his use of imagery. Snyder won multiple honors and awards for his poems including the Bollingen Prize, Guggenheim Foundation fellowship, The Bess Hoklin Award, an American Academy of Arts and Letters award and many more. Snyder’s work takes great interest in spiritual matters such as Zen Buddhism as well as meticulous references to nature and the natural world.
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Night Highway Ninety-Nine describes the vivid scene of driving through highway 99 throughout different states. Snyder uses imagery to awaken the driving sense. For example:
“ waste of trees & topsoil, beast, herb,
edible roots, Indian farm-fields & white men
dances washed, leached, burnt out
Minds blunt, ug! talk twisted” ( Snyder 295)
Snyder shows imagery by describing sights, sounds, setting and more to give his audience the exact image that he saw as he was writing. By giving the audience the visual of what he is seeing, he creates a sense of familiarity. Snyder also uses our senses to be able to create a vivid vision that the audience will be able to get a better view of.
Snyder Gary. “Night Highway Ninety-Nine” The Portable Beat Reader, edited by Ann Charters, Penguin Books, 1992, pp. 293–304.
“Gary Snyder.” Poetry Foundation, Poetry Foundation, 2009,
