Yes indeed, Mary. Poetry, and sentiments, made to be said. And who, having hacked away by lamplight, hasn't wondered to what end except the hacking itself? As you said yourself, elsewhere in these pages, notwithstanding the value of forums like these poetry is essentially a solitary occupation.
It isn't always easy to understand Dylan's juxtapositions but when you hit lines like "With their nightingales and psalms" they never seem to cease to surprise.
The other aspect of his poetry I love is his propensity to make lists of things - sometimes his poems are littered with "ands", other times he just lists them straight out without any apparent attempt at making a literal statement, rather just to create an impression or picture of something which can't really be said literally.
This is one of his nicer syllabics and proves that syllabic can read very naturally. True, there are mostly (not always) three stresses to a line, against the 7 syllables (forgetting the last line of each "stanza"), but he moves them around so nicely.
I can't read this, or much of his stuff, without hearing his voice reading, and I guess that's his trick - to truly write for as well as in his own voice. The voice of a declamatory actor, no doubt, and hence not much in vogue, but undeniably his, and uncopyable**.
Thanks for posting that one.
Philip
** Does everyone know Sam Gwynn's brilliant take on "Do not go Gentle..."? The exception that proves the rule, and very funny.
|