Gary Snyder Themes

For this assignment, I read The Dead by the Side of the Road, Control Burn, and Two Fawns that Didn't See the Light This Spring. The themes of all three poems seem to be that humans intervene with nature more than necessary. In The Dead by the Side of the Road and Two Fawns that Didn't See the Lights This Spring,  Snyder describes animals that have died from unnatural causes, such as being hit by cars and shot. He seems to have sympathy for the dead animals, which shows that their deaths are not something to be happy about. Control Burn is about how much the land has changed since the Indians had control over it. He wants to help the land blossom and live to its full potential again by burning it. These poems show that Gary Snyder has a respect for the wilderness and that other humans do not. They change things in negative ways.