As a poet I hold the most archaic values on earth. They go back to the Neolithic: the fertility of the soil, the magic of animals, the power-vision in solitude, the terrifying initiation and rebirth, the love and ecstasy of the dance, the common work of the tribe.

His work in his various roles reflects an immersion in both Buddhist spirituality and nature. For many years Snyder served as a faculty member at the University of California Davis and he also served for a time on the California Arts Council. Snyder is a winner of a Pulitzer Prize for Poetry.