Mountains and Rivers Without End: Poem

What does it mean to journey through landscapes both outer and inner—to trace the paths of mountains and rivers across continents, cultures, and a lifetime of practice? Gary Snyder's Mountains and Rivers Without End is one of the great epic poems of American literature, a work composed over forty years (1956-1996) that weaves together geology, prehistory, mythology, Zen Buddhism, and deep ecology into a stunning meditation on our connection to the earth. Publishers Weekly called it "a magnificent achievement... like a modern Leaves of Grass, combines fascination with the varied particulars of the way people live with awe at the majesty of nature." In simple, striking verse, Snyder creates an epic discourse that encompasses Asian artistic traditions, Native American storytelling, and Buddhist philosophy, celebrating the disparate elements of the earth—sky, rock, water—while exploring the human journey through landscapes both physical and spiritual with stunning wisdom and quiet brilliance.

Snyder is not writing a conventional narrative but a poetic pilgrimage that mirrors the Zen concept of "mountains and rivers without end"—the endless journey of practice and awakening. The poems ask: What is our relationship to deep time, to the geological and mythological layers beneath our feet? How do we walk through the world with awareness and reverence? What does it mean to be a traveler on this earth, moving through cultures and landscapes while remaining rooted in practice? Snyder shows us that the journey is both literal and metaphorical—a lifetime of walking, sitting, paying attention, and honoring the sacred in stone, water, and sky.

For readers seeking contemplative wisdom and ecological consciousness, Mountains and Rivers Without End offers a profound meditation on place, practice, and the human connection to nature across time and space. This is a book for anyone drawn to epic poetry and long-form contemplative verse, who seeks to understand Zen Buddhism through landscape and journey, who loves the intersection of geology, mythology, and spiritual practice. It's a reminder that the greatest poems are not finished but lived, and that mountains and rivers flow without end through the landscape of awakening.

What You'll Discover

• Epic poem composed over 40 years (1956-1996)—Snyder's masterwork
• Weaves geology, prehistory, mythology, Zen Buddhism, and deep ecology
• Asian artistic traditions, Native American storytelling, and Buddhist philosophy
• Meditation on human connection to nature across landscapes and cultures
• "Like a modern Leaves of Grass" —Publishers Weekly

Gary Snyder (b. 1930) is a Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, essayist, and environmental activist, widely regarded as one of America's greatest living poets. Winner of the Bollingen Poetry Prize, the Robert Kirsch Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Orion Society's John Hay Award, Snyder has devoted his life to Zen practice, ecological activism, and poetry. Mountains and Rivers Without End, published in 1996 after forty years of composition, represents the culmination of his poetic and spiritual journey.

Perfect for: Readers seeking epic poetry and long-form contemplative verse, students of Gary Snyder and American poetry, those drawn to Zen Buddhism and landscape spirituality, anyone interested in geology, prehistory, and deep time, admirers of eco-poetry and environmental consciousness, seekers exploring the intersection of travel and spiritual practice, students of Asian artistic traditions and Native American storytelling, those interested in mythology and the sacred in nature, readers who love Leaves of Grass and visionary American poetry, anyone seeking poetry that celebrates mountains, rivers, and the endless journey of awakening.

Counterpoint paperback edition. Gary Snyder's epic masterwork—offering forty years of poetic pilgrimage through mountains, rivers, cultures, and the landscapes of Zen practice and ecological consciousness.