Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

Gary Snyder’s "Myths and Texts: Logging: 14" is a meditation on deforestation, industrial destruction, and the historical cycle of ecological devastation linked to human civilization. The poem weaves together myth, history, and modern environmental degradation, creating a tapestry of loss and critique. Snyder, whose work consistently engages with ecological themes and the intersection of spirituality and the natural world, presents logging as not merely an economic activity but as a profound rupture in the relationship between humanity and the sacred forests.

The poem opens with stark, unembellished language: "The groves are down / cut down." The repetition and clipped phrasing create a sense of finality, an irrevocable loss. These groves are not just trees but sacred spaces, places of myth and worship. The reference to "Groves of Ahab, of Cybele" invokes both biblical and pagan traditions. Ahab, the Israelite king condemned in the Old Testament, was associated with idolatry, particularly through his wife Jezebel’s worship of Baal and Asherah, deities often linked to sacred groves. Cybele, a Phrygian mother goddess later absorbed into Greco-Roman worship, was traditionally associated with pine trees, which were considered sacred to her. The cutting down of these trees is thus not just an act of logging but an erasure of the divine.

Snyder continues to build on this theme, naming specific trees and their cultural significance: "Pine trees, knobbed twigs / thick cone and seed / Cybele's tree this, sacred in groves." The emphasis on cones and seeds suggests renewal, yet the cutting down of these trees disrupts this natural cycle. He expands this perspective globally, invoking "Pine of Seami, cedar of Haida." Zeami Motokiyo, the 14th-century Japanese Noh playwright, often used pine trees in his plays as a bridge between the earthly and spiritual realms. The Haida people of the Pacific Northwest revered cedar trees, which were essential to their way of life, used for totem poles, canoes, and longhouses. By referencing these traditions, Snyder highlights how forests have long been central to spiritual and cultural identity across different societies.

The poem then shifts into a litany of destruction, as sacred forests are "Cut down by the prophets of Israel / the fairies of Athens / the thugs of Rome / both ancient and modern." Snyder implicates a wide range of historical forces in the destruction of nature—prophets, mythic beings, and empire-builders alike. The mention of "the fairies of Athens" might refer to the loss of ancient Greek sacred groves, places where spirits or dryads were believed to dwell. The "thugs of Rome" suggests the Roman Empire’s massive deforestation efforts, which fueled its expansion but stripped Mediterranean lands of their original forests. The phrase "both ancient and modern" connects these past transgressions to contemporary deforestation, reminding us that the same destruction continues today.

Snyder brings the critique into the present with industrial precision: "Cut down to make room for the suburbs / Bulldozed by Luther and Weyerhaeuser." The reference to "Luther" is ambiguous but could suggest Martin Luther, whose Protestant Reformation contributed to a desacralization of nature, stripping forests of their spiritual significance in favor of a more utilitarian worldview. Weyerhaeuser, one of the largest timber companies in the world, represents modern corporate logging. By placing these names together, Snyder suggests that both religious reformation and industrial capitalism have played roles in the relentless clearing of forests.

The passage that follows evokes the physical process of logging with vivid detail: "Crosscut and chainsaw / squareheads and finns / high-lead and cat-skidding." The references to "squareheads and Finns" likely point to the Scandinavian immigrants who were instrumental in the logging industry of North America, particularly in the Pacific Northwest. The logging techniques described—"high-lead and cat-skidding"—were standard methods used to drag massive felled logs through the forests. These lines emphasize the brute force and technical efficiency of deforestation, reducing the ancient groves to a mere resource to be extracted.

The poem crescendos with a devastating image: "Trees down / Creeks choked, trout killed, roads." The ecosystemic collapse is conveyed in four short, brutal phrases. The falling of trees leads to silted, blocked waterways, the death of fish, and the imposition of human infrastructure. Roads, the supposed markers of progress, become the final punctuation to this sequence of destruction.

In the closing lines, Snyder makes a dramatic theological comparison: "Sawmill temples of Jehovah. / Squat black burners 100 feet high / Sending the smoke / of our burnt / Live sap and leaf / To his eager nose." The phrase "Sawmill temples of Jehovah" suggests that the modern logging industry has become a kind of false religion, a place where trees are sacrificed to a god that demands total submission. The "squat black burners" refer to the massive incinerators used in sawmills to burn wood waste, turning once-living forests into smoke and ash. By saying that this smoke is sent "to his eager nose," Snyder delivers a searing critique of monotheistic traditions that, in his view, have justified or been complicit in environmental destruction. The God of the Old Testament, often associated with fire and sacrifice, is ironically receiving the unintentional offering of modern deforestation.

"Myths and Texts: Logging: 14" is both an elegy and an indictment. It mourns the loss of sacred groves and acknowledges the long history of deforestation across cultures, from biblical times to modern industrial logging. By weaving together myth, history, and ecological destruction, Snyder frames deforestation not just as an environmental issue but as a profound cultural and spiritual rupture. The poem suggests that our contemporary attitudes toward nature—viewing it as a resource to be exploited rather than a living system to be revered—are the continuation of an ancient pattern of violence against the land. In this way, Snyder’s poem stands as both a lament and a warning: the destruction of forests is not just the loss of trees but the erosion of our connection to the sacred, the ecological, and ultimately, to ourselves.

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