A Courier After Identity:

Shimaa Abd-al Fattah Abd-al Ali’m Shahein ;

The present thesis explores Snyder’s poetry not as a question of authenticity, butas a creative responding to the forces inside the poet’s self and outside in the universe.His poetic output is an act produced in a process of becoming, in which Snyder learnsto adjust and adapt the true essence of man in general and American in particular. Hispoetic output evolves and changes to cope with his enlightened perception of earthtradition and man’s true identity. As a modern-American poet, Snyder managesthrough individual effort and writing poetry to see better and deeper into reality, todiscover hidden meanings and values, and to use his poetry to communicate thisexperience to the reader. In the dedication of The Gary Snyder Reader: Prose, Poetry,and Translations, Snyder quotes K’ung; one of the great Bodhisattvas, famousannouncement, ”[t]o learn and then put it in practice— isn’t that a delight? Snyder achieves this delight through innovative methods and tactics—such as reviving culturesof Native Indians and embracing Buddhism