Four Poems for Robin

The four individual sections of “Four Poems for Robin” are interdependent. While they can be read and enjoyed individually, they gain meaning by Snyder’s linking of them as they recall similar locations and emotions that build on the overall themes of loss, love, and growth.

Part One—Siwashing it out once in Siuslaw Forest—describes a camping trip the speaker took alone to a recreational area near the Oregon coast. To “siwash” is a term borrowed from Native Americans in the Pacific Northwest and means to camp without a tent. The speaker “[sleeps] under” (Line 1) the blooming “rhododendron” (Line 1) trees that drop their “blossoms” (Line 2) throughout the “night” (Line 2). This clarifies the time as April to May because that is when the Pacific Northwest version of the flower blooms. The poem describes the cold night and the speaker’s discomfort, which is contrasted by the remembrance of Robin and the “big warm bed” (Line 8) they used to share when they were “the youngest lovers” (9) and “still nineteen” (Line 10). The couple parted ways a long time ago. Now, the speaker hikes alone while Robin is a teacher “back east” (12) and their “friends are married” (11). The speaker doesn’t “mind living this way” (Line 13) because the landscape is a beautiful one full of “green hills” (Line 14) and a “blue beach” (Line 14).