The Fractal Nature of Gary Snyder's Mountains and Rivers Without End

This article employs the fractal as a template to uncover the complexity of Gary Snyder's poem cycle Mountains and Rivers Without End. Blending chaos and order, fractals are complex shapes emerging from simple sources. Unlike Euclidean geometric forms, like triangles or cubes, the bumpy, bulbous character of fractals reflects forms found in nature. Tuning his work to the chords of nature, Snyder incorporates a fractal pattern into the structure and thematic content of Mountains and Rivers Without End. The two components of "mountains" and "rivers" become a whirling whole—two seemingly opposing forces that twist and join, reverberating across broad scales, embodying patterns we recognize, and demonstrating nature's rhythms rising from language.