Bob Dylan And Geoffrey Chaucer: The Death Of Pity

Please note, part one of this article is published as

• Bob Dylan and Geoffrey Chaucer: Thunder on the Mountain

by Larry Fyffe

Long before Frederich Nietzsche said that ‘God is dead’, and that Christianity killed Him by its ordaining Man to suffer in the here-and-now while waiting for happiness in the afterlife, the poet Geoffrey Chaucer complains that Pity – the feeling of sorrow for the misfortunes of others – is dead.

Singer/songwriter Bob Dylan keeps Chaucer alive by paying tribute to The Canterbury Tales:

One the deadman’s shield to bear
Another with his spear high in the air
His Turkish bow the third one proud to hold
With quiver and with trim of burnished gold
(Chaucer: The Knight’s Tale)

Dylan carries the dead poet’s shield:

Ain’t talkin’, just walkin’
Carryin’ a deadman’s shield
Heart burnin’, still yearnin’
Walkin’ with a toothache in my heel
(Dylan: Ain’t Talkin’)

Chaucer mourned the departure of Pity:

I am so hungry that I cannot sleep
I wish God had buried me deep
Then hunger would not creep into my gut
There’s nothing but bread I would rather cut
(Chaucer: The Monk’s Tale)

Bob Dylan hopes that Pity will return:

I’m listenin’ to the steel rails hum
Got both my eyes shut
Just sitting here trying to keep the hunger from
Creeping into my gut
(Dylan: Workingman’s Blues)

Geoffrey Chaucer believed Pity’s gone forever:

I’m pretty sure she’ll make me kill someone
Then I will be on the run
For I am a dangerous man
When I have a knife in my hand
(Chaucer: The Monk’s Tale)

Dylan likewise doubts that Eden and Pity can be restored after what Eve has done:

One of these days I’ll end up on the run
I’m pretty sure she’ll make me kill someone
I’m going inside, roll the shutter’s down
I just wanna say, ‘Hell’s my wife’s home town’
(Dylan: My Wife’s Home Town)

Adam has been drained of his vitality. But take the rag away from your face, now ain’t the time for your tears.

His socks were the same
No one called her anything but ‘Madam’
None hardy enough along the way
Who dared flirt with her, or play
(Chaucer: The Reeves Tale)

The times they are a-changing. Mercury, the God of Commerce, replaces Venus, the Goddess of Love:

It’s the first new day of a grand and glorious Autumn
The Queen of Love is comin’ across the grass
None dare call her anything but ‘Madam’
No one flirts with her or even makes a pass
(Dylan: Ain’t Talkin’ – alternate)

The Corrupt as usual regulate the Corrupt:

‘I’ve been’, the Friar said, ‘so insulted today
Down in your village. There’s no one of poorest pay
Who would put up with my treatment in your town
But nothing shocks me more than that old clown’
(Chaucer: The Summoners Tale)

And a new economic order is shaped by the Law:

Down by the river, Judge Simpson walkin’ around
Down by the river, Judge Simpson walkin’ around
Nothing shocks me more than that that old clown
(Dylan: Shake Shake Mama)

Time is taken over by Wealth, and by those who have it:

A fourth part of the day’s already gone
Now for the love of God, and of St. John
Let’s lose as little time now as we may
My lords, it’s time that wastes both night and day
(Chaucer: Sergeant-At-Law’s Tale)

Hope slips away for those who don’t:

Everybody got all the flowers
I don’t have one single rose
I feel a change comin’ on
And the fourth part of the day’s already gone
(Dylan: I Feel A Change Comin’ On)

So bury the rag deep in your face; now’s the time for your Pity:

I pity the poor immigrant ….
Who eats but is not satisfied
Who hears but does not see
Who falls in love with wealth itself
And turns his back on me
(Dylan: I Pity The Poor Immigrant)

What else is on the site

• 1: Over 400 reviews of Dylan songs.  There is an index to these in alphabetical order on the home page, and an index to the songs in the order they were written in the Chronology Pages.
• 2: The Chronology.  We’ve taken all the songs we can find recordings of and put them in the order they were written (as far as possible) not in the order they appeared on albums.  The chronology is more or less complete and is now linked to all the reviews on the site.  We have also recently started to produce overviews of Dylan’s work year by year.     The index to the chronologies is here.
• 3: Bob Dylan’s themes.  We publish a wide range of articles about Bob Dylan and his compositions.  There is an index here.  A second index lists the articles under the poets and poetic themes cited – you can find that here.
• 4:   The Discussion Group    We now have a discussion group “Untold Dylan” on Facebook.  Just type the phrase “Untold Dylan” in, on your Facebook page or follow this link 
• 5:  Bob Dylan’s creativity.   We’re fascinated in taking the study of Dylan’s creative approach further.  The index is in Dylan’s Creativity.
• 6: You might also like: A classification of Bob Dylan’s songs and partial Index to Dylan’s Best Opening Lines

And please do note   The Bob Dylan Project, which lists every Dylan song in alphabetical order, and has links to licensed recordings and performances by Dylan and by others.