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by Larry Fyffe
See also: Blake, Keats, And Spots Of Ink
Many of the poems of John Keats centre on the search by human beings for an ideal eternal home in a world of transient time – a theme singer/songwriter Bob Dylan expresses in many of his song lyrics.
Statues made of stone and such are symbols of this psychological urge to have time stand still:
(John Keats: Ode To A Grecian Urn)
Like Keats, Bob Dylan admires historical figures, including music and poetic icons of the past. But, again like Keats, he knows that the calling of a real artist is to keep truth and beauty moving onward; not a-standing still like a statue. Admonish he does political and religious activists, artists, and performers who pour themselves in a mould – the lyrics below, perhaps alluding to Beat writer William Burroughs:
That it’s not a good idea to unwaveringly follow the footsteps of Jesus Christ might be a message as well. Dylan almost always leaves some room for listener participation in interpreting the lyrics of his songs.
The singer/songwriter criticizes himself too – in the following lyrics, perhaps for sticking to political protests for a bit too long; a two-edged sword it be – getting comfort there for sure, but also typecast:
John Keats makes the point that an artist ought to refrain from becoming out-of-touch with reality by forever writing sweet love songs in a world of woe:
(John Keats: Ode To A Grecian Urn)
Bob Dylan finds Keats’ poetry a little too dark. The singer/songwriter recognizes the psychological reality that human beings yearn for permanent bliss in the world such as it is:
At the same time, Bob Dylan recognizes that any hoped-for ideal and permanency in a transient world is all but a dream:
(Bob Dylan: Visions Of Johanna)
Thusly, Keats’ poetry tends to be overly melancholic:
(Keats: Ode To A Nightingale)
On top of everything else, Dr. Death lurks around the corner:
(Bob Dylan: It’s Not Dark Yet)
Everybody knows that’s how it goes:
(Bob Dylan: You’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go)
A Romantic to the end, Bob Dylan reminds everybody that Mother Nature will take care of you.
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* “in midst of other woe”
Ricks’ closely analysed comparison of ‘It’s Not Dark Yet’ with ‘Ode to a Nightingale’ is worth a visit – or a revisit…
For some, it gets dark way too soon:
We are dropping down the ladder rung by rung
And the measure of our torment is the measure of our youth
God help us, for we knew the worst too young
( Rudyard Kipling: Gentleman-Rankers)
*Ode On A Grecian Urn
The cypress tree for Dylan is a symbol of endurance as it for French poet Charles Baudelaire – somewhat akin to the Romantic Transcendentalist ‘Absolute’, but darker:
The boulevards of cypress trees
The masquerades of birds and bees
The petals, pink and white, the winds have blown
Won’t you meet me in the moonlight all alone?
Bob Dylan: Moonlight)
*as it is for
*sorry – it be correct – “such as it is:’
Ode to a Stoned Nightingale has about 10 words in common with Mr, Tman