by Larry Fyffe
Poems of Charles Baudelaire shows the impact of Edgar Allan Poe; Bob Dylan’s song lyrics reveal the influence of Charles Baudelaire.
In one version thereof, Dylan sings:
(Bob Dylan: Tangled Up In Blue)
Dylan makes reference to a poem by Baudelaire (translated):
(Baudelaire: The Balcony)
Symbolist poet Beaudelaire admires the colourful Romantic paintings of Eugene Delacroix that deal with mankind’s pain and suffering. Bob Dylan studies the art of painting, and brings ‘Lady Liberty Leading The People’ by Delacroix to mind with a sly pun in the lyrics below:
(Bob Dylan: Tangled Up In Blue)
Eugene Delacroix paints ‘Tasso In The Madhouse’ – Torquato Tasso, an Italian poet from the sixteenth century, writes ‘Rinaldo’, a knightly romance that contains sexual imagery based on Sandro Botticelli’s ‘Birth Of Venus’:
(Baudelaire: On Eugene Delacroix’s Tasso In The Madhouse)
The singer/songwriter seeks out sexy Venus, his Muse:
(Bob Dylan: When I Paint My Masterpiece)
In the poem below, a cracked bell symbolizes a broken soul:
(Baudelaire: The Cracked Bell)
Not quite so dark are the song lyrics below:
Other song lyrics draw a comparison with two French Symbolist poets influenced by Baudelaire:
(Bob Dylan: You’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go)
Rimbaud writes of Venus:
(Arthur Rimbaud: Sun And Flesh)
Likewise for the singer/songwriter – Venus’ water balances Mars’ fire, makes love pure. Black-robed priests over-water it:
(Bob Dylan: Watered-Down Love)
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*Mine’ve been
*show the impact
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