Analysis of the poem

of Gary Snyder Poem

December At Yase
 December at Yase
You said, that October,
In the tall dry grass by the orchard
When you chose to be free,
"Again someday, maybe ten years.“
After college I saw you
One time.
You were strange,
And I was obsessed with a plan.
Now ten years and more have Gone by:
I've always known where you were—
I might have gone to you
Hoping to win your love back.
You still are single.
I didn't.
I thought I must make it alone.
I Have done that.
Only in dream, like this dawn,
Does the grave, awed intensity
Of our young love
Return to my mind, to my flesh.
We had what the others
All crave and seek for;
We left it behind at nineteen.
I feel ancient, as though I had
Lived many lives.
And may never now know
If I am a fool
Or have done what
my karma demands.
 Analysis
O Snyder begins the poem with a breakup scene. It is not
overly contentious or emotional, rather he is stoic in his
analysis and description, probably because he's had
years to think about it and hash through his feelings.
O The girl's decision is described as "deciding to be free"
and she offers the consolation of "Again someday,
maybe in ten years."
O Inherently human beings are selfish so asking for a
decade of patience when it comes to love is ridiculous.
O It's her attempt at softening the blow when in reality it
only does more damage by encouraging a tiny slice of
hope that the poet holds onto.
O Although he doesn't bluntly say it, the poet clings
to the belief that if the timing is right and they
are fated to be together that it will happen.
O But when they run into each other down the line
there is no spark, no remnants of what they
once had. "After college I saw you / One time.
You were strange. / And I was obsessed with a
plan."
O That's certainly the opposite of a pleasant
reunion, showing how time, space and life
experiences can drastically change people.
O The most unfavorable evidence that this young love will
never be rekindled comes in the following stanza.
O Snyder points out that the ten year sentence she
imposed upon him has expired and while he "might
have gone to you / Hoping to win your love back. / You
are still single."
O What is stopping him? She is not attached or married
and they once had an intimate connection, a
connection that still haunts him today.
O Could it be his pride? Could he be afraid? Snyder gives
us a half answer: "I thought I must make it alone. I /
Have done that."
O The language in this poem is stripped down even though the
emotions being explored are complex and powerful. Notice
how the diction and syntax are often simple, but occasionally a
line break with pop up that throws us for a loop.
O Snyder's hard enjambments at the beginning of the second
and third stanzas allow the lines to drop into the next, mirroring
the dropping feeling that comes with remembering a lost love.

O (Enjambment. Enjambment is when a sentence, phrase, or

thought does not end with the line of poetry. Rather, it carries
over to the next line. Typically, enjambed lines of poetry do not
have punctuation marks at the end.

O This technique is cleverly executed, as is the enjambment on

the answering line mentioned in the previous paragraph.
O When Snyder tells us why he hasn't made the
courageous motion to win her back, he is focused on
himself and this is particularly apparent in his line
break: "I thought I must make it alone. I / Have done
that.“
O It once was about them, but at some point he turned
inward and it became about him, about the "I"
instead of the "you" or the "we.“
O Maybe his fate was to live on in the shadow of what
could have been. Perhaps "the grave, awed intensity /
Of our young love" is fueling and pushing him.
O Or it could be that all that he had and "left behind at
nineteen" is a constant tormentor.
O Snyder feels "ancient" and is ultimately unsure if
the path he's following is the right one.
O This isn't a poem that unravels the complex
riddle of fate and destiny, but in the life
experiences the poem reveals we gain a better
understanding of how individuals react when
faced with fateful challenges.
O Snyder ends the poem with a question of fate,
wondering if he is "a fool / Or (has he) done what
my / karma demands.“
O We are not sure if Snyder expects an answer...at
least in this life.
 The Analysis
O Gary Snyder has many different experiences that
may have affected his poetry.
O In the first paragraph he writes about October and
the tall dry grass. Since he worked outside he may
be writing about the environment that he worked
in. Also in the beginning of he speaks about this
other person and being with them.
O Later on in the poem he talks about winning her love
back and meeting at nineteen. This may be relating
to the divorce that him and his wife had.
O Since him and his wife divorced when he was twenty
this can be assumed as her and relates back to
events happening in his life.
O At the end of this poem he mentions his
Karma and he gets what he deserves.
O This may be relating back to how his parents
divorced and him and his wife separating
may have been his true path and it occurred
because of his parents.
O The divorce of his parents may have lead
him to believe that all marriages end in
separation and he was destined to this
failure.
O This entire poem is a love story about him and his
first true love getting together and then
separating. He mentions when they met and the
promises they mad to each other about their love.
O He tells about his plan to win her love back and get
back together. They believed that good time apart
would help build their bond with each other when
they say that they will separate for ten years.
O When the ten years are up he puts his plan in motion
noting that she is still single and ready to get back
together. He believes that he has made it on his own
and can now have her and is just beginning to realize
that it is truly over.
 Imagery
O There are many words in this poem that give
us great images for the poem through
association or ‘containers.’
O The first main one in the poem is the word
strange. It has a large container because it
has things that go along with it, but no one
sees the true meaning and all they see is
what they are lead to believe it is through
association.
 Karma
O Last there is the word karma. This is an
interesting word because there is no real
meaning behind it.
O It truly is just an imagined image and has
this container that describes bad things
happening to bad people and this changes
the way people act.
O In other words “what goes around, comes
around”. This gives the reader a feeling that
Gary may also be very superstitious.
O Most of Gary Snyder poems express emotion and
nature in most of his poems. In his childhood he
experiences many fascinations and experiences with
the wonders of nature.
O For example as a young boy he used to go mountain
climbing.
O Also another connection to his life that may of
inspired or had a effect on his writing of poems was
his divorce. Gary probably experienced many different
emotions from the divorce with his wife.
O In the poem, Gary talks about returning from college,
he could be referring to his past experiences of when
he went to college.
 Nature and Nurture
O Gary Snyder also has a very descriptive writing
when writing his poems. It seems that in the
poems that we have read, he is trying to
recreate or describe the experiences during this
time such as the poem “December at Yase.”
O Also in some of his other poems that talk about
nature and the environment. His poems seems
that he is trying to explain the scene or create a
image your head about the scene.
O Lastly, most of Gary’s poems seem to be
accessible by many people such as
understanding the beauty of nature