[Tim Murphy]

http://www.powerlineblog.com/archive...-bob-dylan.php
Scott Johnson has an affectionate post at Powerline with links to some of his favorite covers, all singers better than Dylan. Odetta, Joan Baez, The Byrds joined live by the author in Tambourine Man, which I think is the closest he ever got to great poetry. It's an acid trip, and I used to listen to it tripping. We wouldn't have "Lucy in the Sky" without it.

[John Whitworth]

But Dylan means them to mean something. He is writing political stuff. The case of Stevens (no Nobel there either) is a special one. Dylan's lines are duff.

[Simon Hunt]

I find this another interesting take:

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/fe...-prize-w444799

It's pop culture critic Rob Sheffield using Emerson and Shakespeare to argue that Dylan may not be "poetry" but is nonetheless a deserving recipient of the "most gaudy" literary prize.

[Tim Murphy]

I did read Aliki's excellent piece in TLS. Like our friend Housman, the Border Ballads are my earliest influence, Robert Burns close behind.

[Richard Meyer]

Originally Posted by John Whitworth

But Dylan means them to mean something. He is writing political stuff. The case of Stevens (no Nobel there either) is a special one. Dylan's lines are duff.

Well, as concerns the "white dove" in Dylan's lyrics, it's probably not a difficult or great leap to conclude that the dove has something to with peace, since it's an ancient and universal symbol for peace, love, and hope. One is not under any obligation to embrace Dylan's lyrics as great poetry, but to declare the lines you mention as obscure and beyond meaning is rather nonsensical.

Richard