See also: Bob Dylan And Faith: William Blake
by Larry Fyffe
Singer/songwriter/musician Bob Dylan drinks water from the historical wells of traditional folk songs, and from works of literature.
As previously pointed out, themes drawn from the poetry of preRomantic William Blake have a big influence on Bob Dylan:
I wander through each chartered street Near where the chartered Thames does flow And mark in every face I meet Marks of weakness, marks of woe (William Blake: London)
As evident in the song lyrics below:
Oh, time is short, and the days are sweet For all intended purposes And passion rules the arrow that flies A million faces at my feet But all I see are dark eyes (Bob Dylan: Dark Eyes)
Here’s a poem that counterbalances mankind’s scientific reasoning with visions from the artistic imagination:
Mock on, mock on, Voltaire, Rousseau Mock on, mock on, 'tis all in vain You throw the sand against the wind And the wind blows it back again
That is, scientific rationalism left to itself produces the dark “Satanic” mills of industrial capitalism that dismisses the human potential to establish a naturally balanced, everlasting light in Eden – for the benevolence of all earthly inhabitants:
To see the world in a grain of sand And a heaven in a wild flower Hold infinity in the palm of your hand And eternity in an hour (William Blake: Auguries Of Innocence)
Motifs reflected in the song lyrics beneath: I have gone from rags to riches In the sorrow of the night In the violence of a summer's dream In the chill of a wintry light In the bitter dance of loneliness fading into space In the broken mirror of innocence on each forgotten face (Bob Dylan: Every Grain Of Sand)
Below, lyrics by a British songster who takes his stage name from Blind Willie McTell:
So how can you tell me you're lonely And say for you the sun don't shine Let me take you by the hand And lead you through the streets of London Show you something to make you change your mind Have you seen the old girl Who walks the streets of London Dirt in her hair And her clothes in rags (Ralph McTell: Streets Of London)
The song above echoes the sentiment expressed in the one following:
Oxford town, Oxford town Everybody's got their heads bowed down Sun don't shine above the ground Ain't a-going down to Oxford town He went down to Oxford town Guns and clubs followed him down All because his face is brown (Bob Dylan: Oxford Town)