加裏•斯奈德 ，美國詩人，翻譯傢。齣生於舊金山，就讀伯剋利大學期間，因受禪宗影響而轉學亞洲語言和文化，並翻譯中國古詩，參與“垮掉派”詩歌運動，曾到日本修習禪宗。一九八四年，斯奈德和金斯堡曾隨美國作傢代錶團訪問中國。他多年來一直緻力於生態保護，被譽為“深層生態學的桂冠詩人”；曾獲普利策詩歌奬和全美圖書奬。

This is a collection of discovery, of insight, and of vision. These poems see the roots of community in the family, and the roots of culture and government in the community. "In making the handle of an axe by cutting wood with an axe the model is indeed near at hand." In exploring this axiom of Lu Ji’s, Gary Snyder continues: I am an axe And my son a handle, soon To be shaping again, model And tool, craft of culture, How we go on. Formally, the 71 poems in Axe Handles range from lyrics to riddles to narratives. The collection is divided into three parts, called "Loops," "Little Songs for Gaia," and "Nets," each containing poems of disciplined clarity. Gary Snyder knows well the great power of silence in a poem, silence that allows the mind space enough to discover the magic of song.