--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I thought I heard an axe chop in the…" description: "\"“I thought I heard an axe chop in the woods It broke the dream; and woke up dreaming on a train. It must have been a thousand years ago In some old mou..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/456/gary-snyder-4502_dreams_i-thought-i-heard-an-axe-chop-in-the-woo_2754368.jpg" --- # I thought I heard an axe chop in the woods It broke the… ![“I thought I heard an axe chop in the woods It broke the dream; and woke up dreaming on a train. It must have been a thousand years ago In some old mountain sawmill of Japan. A horde of excess poets and unwed girls And I that night prowled Tokyo like a bear Tracking the human future Of intelligence…” quote by Gary Snyder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/456/gary-snyder-4502_dreams_i-thought-i-heard-an-axe-chop-in-the-woo_2754368.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/456/gary-snyder-4502_dreams_i-thought-i-heard-an-axe-chop-in-the-woo_2754368.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/456/gary-snyder-4502_dreams_i-thought-i-heard-an-axe-chop-in-the-woo_2754368.jpg) > ““I thought I heard an axe chop in the woods It broke the dream; and woke up dreaming on a train. It must have been a thousand years ago In some old mountain sawmill of Japan. A horde of excess poets and unwed girls And I that night prowled Tokyo like a bear Tracking the human future Of intelligence and despair.”” [Gary Snyder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-snyder/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A surreal dream blends Japanese mill imagery, poetic excess, and Tokyo’s night, reflecting on humanity’s future of intelligence and despair. **In simple terms:** Dream mixes history, poetry, future. Key Takeaway Contemplate humanity’s path amid chaos. Themes dreams culture future Mood mysterious melancholic Type poetic philosophical When to use this quote - creative writing - art installations - philosophical debates Key Concepts existentialism poetic imagination Questions to Reflect On - What does the “excess poets” symbolize? - How does the setting influence the mood? A Different Perspective Interpretation may be too abstract for some. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Dreams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dreams/) [Fitness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fitness/) [Thousand years](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thousand-years/) ## Related quotes > [“I was happy in the dream; but when I woke up it was with a feeling that I was falling apart, that I was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ninni-holmqvist/i-was-happy-in-the-dream-but-when-i-woke-up-it-was-with-a-feeling/) [Ninni Holmqvist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ninni-holmqvist/) > [“In my dream I woke up to realize I was tired and needed to go to sleep. 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He heard people singing. Behind him, across vast distances of space…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lois-lowry/for-the-first-time-he-heard-something-that-he-knew-to-be-music-he/) [Lois Lowry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lois-lowry/) > [“You're sure? I thought I heard someone." "Nope, not a soul," Blake said. "Get it. Soul. Because we're in a church.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-e-kirk/you-re-sure-i-thought-i-heard-someone-nope-not-a-soul-blake-said-get/) A&E Kirk > [My playing had called to another human being at last. Surely, she could be no other than my own true love. Slowly, I got…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cameron-dokey/my-playing-had-called-to-another-human-being-at-last-surely-she-could/) [Cameron Dokey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cameron-dokey/) ## More by Gary Snyder > [The best thing you can do for the planet is to stay home.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-snyder/the-best-thing-you-can-do-for-the-planet-is-to-stay-home/) [Gary Snyder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-snyder/) > [We . . . must try to live without causing unnecessary harm, not just to fellow humans but to all beings. We must try…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-snyder/we-must-try-to-live-without-causing-unnecessary-harm-not-just-to/) [Gary Snyder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-snyder/) > [Doom scenarios, even though they might be true, are not politically or psychologically effective. The first step . . . is to make us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-snyder/doom-scenarios-even-though-they-might-be-true-are-not-politically-or/) [Gary Snyder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-snyder/) > [Sometime in the last ten years the best brains of the Occident discovered to their amazement that we live in an Environment. This discovery…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-snyder/sometime-in-the-last-ten-years-the-best-brains-of-the-occident/) [Gary Snyder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-snyder/) > [A great poet does not express his or her self; he expresses all of our selves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-snyder/a-great-poet-does-not-express-his-or-her-self-he-expresses-all-of-our/) [Gary Snyder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-snyder/) > [You should really know what the complete natural world of your region is and know what all its interactions are and how you are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-snyder/you-should-really-know-what-the-complete-natural-world-of-your-region/) [Gary Snyder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-snyder/) > [“I have lived at Cold Mountain These thirty long years. Yesterday I called on friends and family: More than half had gone to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-snyder/i-have-lived-at-cold-mountain-these-thirty-long-years-yesterday-i/) [Gary Snyder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-snyder/) > [But if you do know what is taught by plants and weather, you are in on the gossip and can feel truly at home.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-snyder/but-if-you-do-know-what-is-taught-by-plants-and-weather-you-are-in-on/) [Gary Snyder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-snyder/) > [In Paul Friedrich's book Proto-Indo-European Trees he identifies the "semantic primitives" of the Indo-European tribe of languages through a group of words that have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-snyder/in-paul-friedrich-s-book-proto-indo-european-trees-he-identifies-the/) [Gary Snyder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-snyder/) > [Gratitude to the Great Sky who holds billions of stars - and goes yet beyond that - beyond all powers, and thoughts and yet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-snyder/gratitude-to-the-great-sky-who-holds-billions-of-stars-and-goes-yet/) [Gary Snyder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-snyder/) > [“In the mountains it's cold. Always been cold, not just this year. Jagged scarps forever snowed in Woods in the dark ravines spitting mist.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-snyder/in-the-mountains-it-s-cold-always-been-cold-not-just-this-year-jagged/) [Gary Snyder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-snyder/) > [When the mind is exhausted of images, it invents its own.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-snyder/when-the-mind-is-exhausted-of-images-it-invents-its-own/) [Gary Snyder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-snyder/) > [Forests in the tropics are cut to make pasture to raise beef for the American market. Our distance from the source of our food…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-snyder/forests-in-the-tropics-are-cut-to-make-pasture-to-raise-beef-for-the/) [Gary Snyder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-snyder/) > [“The blue mountains are constantly walking." Dōgen is quoting the Chan master Furong. -- "If you doubt mountains walking you do not know your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-snyder/the-blue-mountains-are-constantly-walking-d-gen-is-quoting-the-chan/) [Gary Snyder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-snyder/) > [Thought is just an apprehension of touch.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-snyder/thought-is-just-an-apprehension-of-touch/) [Gary Snyder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-snyder/) [Explore all 110 Gary Snyder quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-snyder/) ## More Dreams quotes > [“Cine a ucis stelele? Cine a surpat drumul spre viitor al celor din morminte?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ionel-teodoreanu/cine-a-ucis-stelele-cine-a-surpat-drumul-spre-viitor-al-celor-din/) [Ionel Teodoreanu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ionel-teodoreanu/) > [“Once we become sensitive to dreams, we discover that every dynamic in a dream is manifesting itself in some way in our practical lives”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-johnson/once-we-become-sensitive-to-dreams-we-discover-that-every-dynamic-in/) [Robert A. Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-johnson/) > [“Now you’re wet. You’re so wet you’re leaking down your ass. You’re soaking my pillow. I don’t think I’m ever washing it. I want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-stoker/now-you-re-wet-you-re-so-wet-you-re-leaking-down-your-ass-you-re/) [Susan Stoker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-stoker/) > [“Not that it matters, when you dream, there's no outside or in. Your mind is an unimaginable bloom. A willow catkin as big as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rich-shapero/not-that-it-matters-when-you-dream-there-s-no-outside-or-in-your-mind/) [Rich Shapero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rich-shapero/) > [Sometimes we wish for the feel but we never understand that we have to give a lot to get the feel !](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-reynolds/sometimes-we-wish-for-the-feel-but-we-never-understand-that-we-have/) [Robert Reynolds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-reynolds/) > [The vision of the left, full of envy and resentment, takes its worst toll on those at the bottom - whether black or white…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/the-vision-of-the-left-full-of-envy-and-resentment-takes-its-worst/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) > [It’s so important to create in your own voice, to hold onto what makes you unique, and have faith in your vision.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lasseter/it-s-so-important-to-create-in-your-own-voice-to-hold-onto-what-makes/) [John Lasseter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lasseter/) > [“As dreams are the healing songs from the wilderness of our unconscious - So wild animals, wild plants, wild landscapes are the healing dreams…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dale-pendell/as-dreams-are-the-healing-songs-from-the-wilderness-of-our/) [Dale Pendell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dale-pendell/) > [Alone in a world, With millions of souls Walking in circles Trapped in their dreams unhealthy, unclean walking in circles, now do not disturb…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chester-bennington/alone-in-a-world-with-millions-of-souls-walking-in-circles-trapped-in/) [Chester Bennington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chester-bennington/) > [“Doing the work to transform your dreams into reality is like walking across the earth. It can be that hard, and it can take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dragos-bratasanu/doing-the-work-to-transform-your-dreams-into-reality-is-like-walking/) [Dragos Bratasanu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dragos-bratasanu/) > [As far as Im concerned, I didnt dream - ever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-sturgeon/as-far-as-im-concerned-i-didnt-dream-ever/) [Theodore Sturgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-sturgeon/) > [I guess, it's a father's dream for his daughter to be known around the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/liza-soberano/i-guess-it-s-a-father-s-dream-for-his-daughter-to-be-known-around-the/) [Liza Soberano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/liza-soberano/) > [I am just enjoying the dream of being Milan coach at the age of 40.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gennaro-gattuso/i-am-just-enjoying-the-dream-of-being-milan-coach-at-the-age-of-40/) [Gennaro Gattuso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gennaro-gattuso/) > [Sometimes life seems like a dream, especially when I look down and see that I forgot to put on my pants.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-handey/sometimes-life-seems-like-a-dream-especially-when-i-look-down-and-see/) [Jack Handey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-handey/) > [“I had a dream. I had an awesome dream.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-had-a-dream-i-had-an-awesome-dream/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Browse all 40,599 Dreams quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dreams/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I thought I heard an axe chop in the woods It broke the dream; and woke up dreaming on a train. It must have been a thousand years ago In some old mountain sawmill of Japan. 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