Hay for the Horses
He had driven half the night
From far down San Joaquin
Through Mariposa, up the
Dangerous Mountain roads,
And pulled in at eight a.m.
With his big truckload of hay
behind the barn.
With winch and ropes and hooks
We stacked the bales up clean
To splintery redwood rafters
High in the dark, flecks of alfalfa
Whirling through shingle-cracks of light,
Itch of haydust in the
sweaty shirt and shoes.
At lunchtime under Black oak
Out in the hot corral,
--The old mare nosing lunchpails,
Grasshoppers crackling in the weeds--
"I'm sixty-eight," he said,
"I first bucked hay when I was seventeen.
I thought, that day I started,
I sure would hate to do this all my life.
And dammit, that's just what
I've gone and done."
From far down San Joaquin
Through Mariposa, up the
Dangerous Mountain roads,
And pulled in at eight a.m.
With his big truckload of hay
behind the barn.
With winch and ropes and hooks
We stacked the bales up clean
To splintery redwood rafters
High in the dark, flecks of alfalfa
Whirling through shingle-cracks of light,
Itch of haydust in the
sweaty shirt and shoes.
At lunchtime under Black oak
Out in the hot corral,
--The old mare nosing lunchpails,
Grasshoppers crackling in the weeds--
"I'm sixty-eight," he said,
"I first bucked hay when I was seventeen.
I thought, that day I started,
I sure would hate to do this all my life.
And dammit, that's just what
I've gone and done."
Poem: "Hay for the Horses," by Gary Snyder from Riprap and Cold Mountain Poems(North Point Press).
http://www.biography.com/people/gary-snyder-21370343
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/gary-snyder
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2008/10/20/zen-master (if you read any of these, read this one)
Gary Snyder is Japhy Ryder in Jack Kerouac's The Dharma Bums.
This is one of my favorite books, and if you are into the Beats or Buddhism, you should check it out:
http://www.amazon.com/Dharma-Bums-Jack-Kerouac/dp/B000KXZ8YU/ref=sr_1_3?
s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1428945136&sr=1-3&keywords=the+dharma+bums
Read the poem and write a poetic analysis in the comments section below.
This poem is about an old trucker in rustic, rural America who is facing a problem many experience in old age: unfulfillment. Most of the poem’s content simply sets a scene, and creates vivid imagery of all sorts. First, the trucker’s journey to his destination is described. He drove through the night, on often treacherous roads, to deliver his cargo of hay. The reader gets the sense that this is a tough and dangerous job. Then, the stacking of the hay is described. The reader is given a vivid visual image of the barn the hay is stacked in, with Snyder’s description of “splintery redwood rafters,/ high in the dark.” The most important piece of the poem, however, is not the imagery of truck-driving or hay-stacking, but rather an insight into the driver’s personal struggles, which is only given towards the end of the poem. The volta occurs when, at lunch, the driver speaks for the first and only time in this poem. He says that he is sixty-eight, has been working at the same job since age seventeen, and, from the beginning, has thought that he “ sure would hate to do this all my life.” He has done exactly that; he is now an old man, and has spent his entire life doing this job he hates. The reader immediately sympathizes with the driver, who is no longer a faceless facilitator of the poem’s imagery but rather a character with a common but tragic plight: a life wasted.
ReplyDelete“Hay for the Horses” is a eloquently descriptive poem about the disappointment of the expectations of the real world. Throughout the poem, a sixty- eight year old man’s hard work and taxing efforts are repeatedly portrayed due to the imagery in this poem. The man is described driving “half the night…up the Dangerous Mountain roads” and the presentation of a sweaty shirt demonstrates the demanding physical labor of his job. In the end of the poem, Gary Snyder puts a quote said by the man, illustrating his regret and discontentment for spending his life consistently miserable. He says, “…I sure would hate to do this all my life. And dammit, that’s just what I’ve gone and done.” (22-24) He reminisces of the time spent which he is unable to get back, showing the value of time. In other words, the man spent his entire life unhappy- furthering the idea that life never goes as expected. The man’s quote is the most important part in the poem because it shows his genuine dissatisfaction the way he spent his life. After listening to Snyder give background on the poem, I realized that the man was most likely giving advice to the young Gary Snyder so that he would spend his time differently, or in a way he would enjoy.
ReplyDelete“Hay for the Horses” by Gary Snyder is a poem that includes two famers bringing hay back to their farm late at night. It uses significant imagery to describe the drive there and back. Words like “splintery” and “itch” help describe what the farms atmosphere is like and how is is run. It shows a sense of hard work from the farmers, being that they had a long drive and it spent most of the night. From the imagery and descriptions, we get a sense of what goes on in the daily life on the farm. "I'm sixty-eight," he said, I first bucked hay when I was seventeen.” This quote starts the description of how the farmer did not think he would be doing the same, boring thing for the rest of his life when he was seventeen. it gives off a sense of time and how quickly time goes when you are doing simple daily things over and over again each day. The farmer is trying to say how he had no idea that he would put in all of this hard work for something he hated this much. He is almost describing a wasted life, by doing things he hated and that had no importance to him in any way. It is a form of regret and wishing maybe if he had made a different decision when he was younger, he wouldn't be feeling this way. This is a form of reality hitting him where he realizes that in order to maintain a typical lifestyle, he can't always do the things he loves to do in order to fulfill the expectations of society.
ReplyDeleteThe poem "Hay is For Horses" by Gary Snyder begins with an anonymous character who has driven from San Joaquin up the Dangerous Mountains. By illustrating the lengthy journey, the reader can relate to the exhaustion and sleepiness of the character who had to drive all night. "With his big truckload of hay" further emphasizes his fatigue because truckers have to worry about keeping the haul safely on the road in order to get it to their destination. The second stanza provides the reader with vivid imagery about loading the hay into the barn, "To splintery redwood rafters/ high in the dark, flecks of alfalfa/ whirling through shingle-cracks of light, / itch of haydust in the sweaty shirt and shoes." These lines emphasize how much hay the trucker had brought to the farm; the pile stretched towards the ceiling. It also shows the hard work put into stacking the hay by talking about the "sweaty" shirt and the "itch of haydust". In the last few lines, the old man talks about how much he despises "bucking hay" and how he has hated it since he was seventeen. He outlines the irony of his situation by saying, "I thought, that day I started,/ I sure would hate to do this all my life./ And dammit, that's just what/ I've gone and done." The first time the man stacked hay, he pondered how much he disliked it and he would hate to do it again, but yet for most of his life he stacked hay.
ReplyDeleteGary Snyder's poem, "Hay is For Horses" is most likely told from the point of view of the writer. Snyder worked on a farm as a teenager and by doing so, it allowed him to be able to write the poem with unique and accurate descriptions that put the reader in the corral. The way how the poet introduces the poem, "He had driven half the night/ From far down San Joaquin/ Through Mariposa, up the/ Dangerous Mountain roads,/ And pulled in at eight a.m." (lines 1-5) can put the reader in his shoes. Long car rides during the night are tiering and somewhat dangerous carrying huge bails of hay. The visual imagery gives the audience a deeper understanding of not only the setting but also the perspective the writer has. Whether it is told by an optimist, pessimist, or anyone in between can set a serious or playful mood and tone. I believe that the mood of this poem was meant to be joyous and has somewhat of a punchline at the end. "I sure would hate to do this all my life./ And dammit, that's just what/ I've gone and done" (lines 22-24) are the closing lines of the poem where he explains how this work is not something he is particularly interested in but as evident in the reading (video) it was intended as a humorous joke, not him regretting choices in life that he made.
ReplyDelete“Hay for Horses” begins with “He”, an undisclosed, male subject, who we can assume from the context works on a farm. We can assume this from the lines “He had driven half the night...And pulled in...With his big truckload of hay/ behind the barn.” (1-7). The poem goes on to describe the barn said character is in. It paints a picture of a dilapidated old building on a dry, hot, summer day. Then, for the first time, our narrator speaks. He says, “‘I’m sixty-eight.../I first bucked hay when I was seventeen./ I thought, that day I started,/I sure would hate to do this all my life./And dammit, that's just what/ I've gone and done.’” (19-24). These few lines serve as the major message of the poem: do not spend your entire life stuck in one place or doing one thing, especially if you hate it. This man has spent 51 years bucking hay, a laborious job which he despises. Snyder’s message to us in this poem is to make the most of our lives, and never let the years pass you by, because one day, you will look up and realize that you’re sixty-eight, and you’re still bucking hay.
ReplyDelete“Hay for the Horses” written by Gary Snyder is a very descriptive and easily visualised poem. It talks about a man who is driving to deliver a big truck load of hay which he told the reader from lines 1-6. Lines 7-9 talk about when he got to the farm where he is bringing the hay and he is stacking it. “Itch of haydust in the sweaty shirt and shoes” (Lines 13-14), this is very visual because if you have ever been around a lot of hay you start to sneeze and its a very itchy feeling. Lines 15-18 Snyder talks about the setting which is a very hot and he talks about nature when referring to the noises of the horse and grasshoppers. The last lines in the poem 19-24 the man is talking and says that he is sixty eight years old and has been bucking hay since he was seventeen years old. He also says that the day he started he would hate to do it for the rest of his life and then states thats what he has done. But, I pointed out that you don't really know who he is talking to. It could be another farmer because it says that someone helped him stack the hay. I like how the poem ends because it makes you think what the person will respond to him.
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ReplyDelete"Hay for the Horses" by Gary Snyder is a poem whose main idea is about two hard working farmers. As they go through their daily routine, the author uses a lot of imagery to allow the reader to picture vividly what it feels like to be doing such difficult work. The lines "Itch of haydust in the/ sweaty shirts and shoes," (lines 13-14) shows that the work they do isn't the most pleasant, but its what they need to do to earn enough money to live. When the old farmer is talking, "I first bucked hay when I was seventeen./ I thought, that day I started,/ I sure would hate to do this all my life./ And dammit, that's just what/ I've gone and done" (lines 20-24), it shows that he never expected to be doing this farming work all of his life, but in order for him to be able to afford the necessities in life, he has to. This part of the poem is where it all comes together and actually sends a message. I believe the message of this poem is that although you may hate to do something, you might need to do it in order to live. Working on a farm was not an appealing thing to do in the opinion of the old farmer, but through the context of him speaking, he may have been forced to do it in order to be able to live
ReplyDeleteGary Snyder introduces Hay for the Horses by graphically discussing an occupation of an unidentified character. The occupation, later found out to be farm work, is described as dangerous and laborious. For example, Snyder uses tactile imagery in the lines, “Itch of haydust in the/ sweaty shirt and shoes,” (Lines 13-14) to show the reader the discomfort of the character at work. Snyder reveals this character’s identity towards the end of the poem. The reader learns that the subject is an old man, who has worked the same job for fifty-one years. In the last lines he states that the first time he worked he did not believe he would continue with the job, yet that is exactly what he did. The last lines can be interpreted in multiple ways. The reader may believe that the old man learned to like his job and its hazardous and uncomfortable environment. The reader may also believe that the old man simply did not take chances and refused to go out of his “hay bucking” comfort zone. I believe that Snyder is trying to portray the theme of the importance of taking chances in order to get the most out of life.
ReplyDeleteHay for the Horses by Gary Snyder will no doubt be my new favorite poem. The imagery in this poem is fantastic when he says,"With winch and ropes and hooks
ReplyDeleteWe stacked the bales up clean
To splintery redwood rafters
High in the dark, flecks of alfalfa
Whirling through shingle-cracks of light,
Itch of haydust in the
sweaty shirt and shoes."(Lines 8-13) I can really see what he is doing. I myself have moved hay and had to wake up early, and I understand what it is like to get very sweaty and have to move 140lb bails of Alfalfa all day. It i a hard job but it does help make you stronger and makes you realize what farmers and many people have to do all day just to get their work done and get paid.
“Hay for the Horses” presents a very colloquial recount of a specific experience that the author, Gary Snyder, has had in his youth. Much of the poem is comprised of visual imagery to illustrate what Snyder experienced. An example of this is “To splintery redwood rafters/High in the dark, flecks of alfalfa/Whirling through shingle-cracks of light.” (Snyder, lines 10-12) This visual imagery paints the picture of a very rustic setting, while very serene and ethereal with the light streaming into the barn. This is a technique that Snyder is known for, due to his love of both nature, simple living, and zen. The volta of the poem takes place when the verses transition from visual imagery to the conversation between the sixty-eight-year-old man and Snyder. At this point the theme of the poem extends beyond simply a visual image, but a profound conversation between the youth and the experienced on the trials and tribulations of life. The conversation, "I'm sixty-eight," he said,/"I first bucked hay when I was seventeen./I thought, that day I started,/I sure would hate to do this all my life./And dammit, that's just what/I've gone and done," (Lines 19-23) begins with the old man reflecting upon the years of arduous labor he spent since his youth. The youthful Snyder responds with a distaste for the work, but the present Snyder soon warps the meaning of the conversation into a reflection into the inevitability of hardship in life, and how even though the youthful Snyder expressed a dislike for it, the pain and labor of life came anyway. This poem, with its vivid imagery, is a perfect example of a lesson one may learn from simply the test of time, and the theme of this poem is most likely the wisdom of the old and the naivety of the youth.
ReplyDeleteHay for the Horses is a poem written by Gary Snyder, it focuses on a hay baler and most likely his young work hand. In the video, Snyder says that this poem is based on an actual experience he had working for the Park Services in Yosemite when he was 24 years old. In the poem, the pair has driven half the night, driving a truck full of hay, finally reaching their destination, a barn. After stacking and winching hay for hours, they settle down for lunch at noon. There, they eat lunch while the wise hay baler tells his work hand how, when he first started he hated the job so much, and told himself there was no way he’d be doing this all his life. Now, his life was almost over, and that was, indeed, all he had done. This poem has some great imagery, especially in Lines 10-12 To splintery redwood rafters High in the dark, flecks of alfalfa Whirling through shingle-cracks of light,. These three lines paints a picture of a rustic old barn, with sunlight streaming in through the windows and hay and sawdust drifting about. This poem is also a bit sad, and almost ironic. The old hay baler is portrayed as a decent, hardworking man. You learn in the last line that he has hated this job since he was 16, but time flies, and 52 years later he was still baling hay. I believe this man was trying to tell Snyder not to waste his life, but pursue his dream, and do something that’ll make you happy and make an impact on the world, and if not the world, your own life.
ReplyDelete"Hay for the Horses" by Gary Snyder is about an older farmer going through his trecherous daily routing of bucking and trucking hay. Gary Snyder paints a picture inyour head with the use of visual imagery For example in lines 8-14 With winch and ropes and hooks/We stacked the bales up clean/To splintery redwood rafters/High in the dark, flecks of alfalfa/Whirling through shingle-cracks of light,/Itch of haydust in the sweaty shirt and shoes." These lines put you in the farmers shoes. You can picture yourself, tired and dirty pushing through the rest of the day just to start it back up the next day. The man started bailing hay when he was 17 and is now 68 and still pushing as he says in lines 19-20 and he says later that he would hate to do this for the rest of his life, but everything does not always work out in everyone's favor.
ReplyDeleteHay is for the Horses by Gary Snyder describes the laborious days of his youth while relating them to current self. The themes appear to be the quickness of life and choosing the paths that make you most happy. The first stanza of the poem talks about the man’s taxing work as a farmer, and hard effort he puts into it, including driving on dangerous for long nights and waking up early. The second stanza is built upon loads of imagery. “Whirling through shingle-cracks of light” (2.5) provides visual imagery and a warm, serene feeling. To finish off the stanza, “Itch of haydust in the/ sweaty shirt and shoes” (2.6-7) provides tactile imagery and reinforces the idea of uncomfortable work. Once the poem reaches, “-The old mare nosing lunchpails,/ Grasshoppers crackling in the weeds-” I think Snyder subtly portrays the quickness of life. For the past two stanzas, he has gone on to describe the work of a farmer. He does so here as well, but he uses dashes. The lines are followed by the man announcing his old age. When I read these lines, I interpreted it as a sort of flash forward into current day, where he remenisces about his eager youth. The second theme falls into play when Snyder writes, “I first bucked hay when I was seventeen./ I thought, that day I started,/ I sure would hate to do this all my life./ And dammit, that's just what/ I've gone and done." (3.7-10) Here, the man in remembering his youthfulness and how passive he was about his future. He clearly did not enjoy the manual labor, and was not planning to do it his entire life. Not he regrets it, and wishes he chose a path that made him more happy.
ReplyDeleteHay for the Horses is a poem designed to reflect upon Gary Snyder's youth. The majority of the poem is focused not on current events, but on Snyder's experiences. The poem is described in a rural area, which really adds to the calmness of the lines, but also increases the idea of isolation. Both of those ideas are found repeatedly in Zen. An excellent example of how Snyder uses imagery to focus on some Zen-like ideas is on line 11, "Whirling through shingle-cracks of light.”. This really draws to mind the slivers of individual light as separate, but also part of one being, which is the light outside. However, the poem continues into a discussion on how difficult real life is. ""I'm sixty-eight," he said,/"I first bucked hay when I was seventeen./I thought, that day I started,/I sure would hate to do this all my life./And dammit, that's just what/I've gone and done," (19-23) is the volta of the poem, because it shows how Snyder has realized that even though hard work is challenging, it is frequently necessary in life.
ReplyDelete