The poem, “Mid-August at Sourdough Mountain Lookout” by Gray Snyder, presents a gloomy moment of nostalgia, and captures the feeling of loneliness by describing his experiences: the present and the past, physically and mentally. The speaker feels a sentimental attachment to his past and his old friends, but ironically they are too busy to remember his existence. Snyder blends the styles of Japanese Haiku and Chinese lyrics, and creates a both descriptive and meditative poem to reveal his thought about isolation.
In the first stanza, the poem demonstrates a comprehension of desolation. Similar to the Japanese Haiku, it portrays sharp accuracy of explanation of physical experiences. The second line, where it says “three days heat, after five …show more content…
Snyder starts it with an “I”, bringing out his own experience, and the mental thoughts of the past. The speaker seems to be lost in the present, struggling to find recognition of selfhood and identity. However, the scenario illustrated in the first stanza reminds the speaker of his friends. Next, he imagines his friends in the cities drinking “cold snow-water” (8) from tin cups. This clue in the poem suggests that the speaker is not familiar with the life and standards of people living in the city. Moreover, compare to the first stanza, the image of his friends having a drink juxtaposes the image of himself being alone. The contrast of the two different situations reinforces the speaker’s feeling of friendless and loneliness. In imitation of Chinese poetry, Snyder further focuses on the expression of feelings of desire. He misses his friends and hopes them to “[look] down for miles/through high still air” (9-10), the direction towards the mountain. At the moment of its realization in the poem, the narrator 's “I” is obliterated, even the text itself implies the truth: “I cannot remember things I once read/a few friends, but they are in cities.” (6-7) The speaker implies a sigh of despair at the end, as his friends become very busy when they are living in the cities, and gradually, they forget their lonely friend back in the mountain. Yet, the speaker decides to keep faith in his old friends, and that his hope for them to look back towards the mountain is notable in the
In the first stanza, the poem demonstrates a comprehension of desolation. Similar to the Japanese Haiku, it portrays sharp accuracy of explanation of physical experiences. The second line, where it says “three days heat, after five …show more content…
Snyder starts it with an “I”, bringing out his own experience, and the mental thoughts of the past. The speaker seems to be lost in the present, struggling to find recognition of selfhood and identity. However, the scenario illustrated in the first stanza reminds the speaker of his friends. Next, he imagines his friends in the cities drinking “cold snow-water” (8) from tin cups. This clue in the poem suggests that the speaker is not familiar with the life and standards of people living in the city. Moreover, compare to the first stanza, the image of his friends having a drink juxtaposes the image of himself being alone. The contrast of the two different situations reinforces the speaker’s feeling of friendless and loneliness. In imitation of Chinese poetry, Snyder further focuses on the expression of feelings of desire. He misses his friends and hopes them to “[look] down for miles/through high still air” (9-10), the direction towards the mountain. At the moment of its realization in the poem, the narrator 's “I” is obliterated, even the text itself implies the truth: “I cannot remember things I once read/a few friends, but they are in cities.” (6-7) The speaker implies a sigh of despair at the end, as his friends become very busy when they are living in the cities, and gradually, they forget their lonely friend back in the mountain. Yet, the speaker decides to keep faith in his old friends, and that his hope for them to look back towards the mountain is notable in the