DDCPoetry

Original poem reprinted online here: "Riprap" by Gary Snyder Originally read: May 8, 2013 More information about the Poet: Gary Snyder At the very beginning of this analysis past me wrote, "Riprap (n) loose stone used to form a foundation for a breakwater or other structures.  (v) strengthen with such a structure."  And the poem plays with the ideas of "structure" not only through the form, but also the wording. The first two lines indicate the parallel between language and nature, "Lay down these words / Before your mind like rocks."   Note that the focus is on the speaker's words, not language as a whole.  His language.  There's a set up of the prophetic speaker that both talks about language and nature. The majority of the poem though is set in nature regardless of subject.  What I mean is a line like this, "Before the body of the mind / in space and time:" (interesting internal rhyme) has it's root in nature and the ...