The Two Dylans from Homer,
the slut #10
by Mike Jackson
Reading a comparative piece on Dylan and Charles Dickens by Glenn
O'Raw in a privately circulated fanzine prompted me to think more
about the many similarities I had noticed between Dylan and Dylan
Thomas, the Welsh poet whose name Robert Zimmerman used. Further reading
indicated that there are scores of similarities covering a tremendous
breadth, from individual psychology to attitudes to women, approaches
to work etc. Of course when you're looking for similarities you're
bound to come up with some. After all, many people share psychological
traits, basic attitudes and so on. But some of the common features
between the two Dylans are so remarkable that I thought a comparative
study might be of interest to a wider audience. It is especially appropriate
as this year marks the fortieth anniversary of Dylan Thomas's death.
I have to admit that some of the similarities documented below may
be put down to mere coincidence, if you believe in coincidences. Some,
I think, arise from deep-seated roots and common features of artists
or artistry - but that's another article/book! Before we consider
some let's first pause to look at the name that now signifies so much
to many of us, Dylan.
Ferris (1987. p25), whose book of Dylan Thomas's letters has been
invaluable to this piece, says:
The word 'Dylan' means nothing more than 'sea', or possibly a
sea-god. As a proper name it occurs but briefly in the Mabinogion
- the Welsh medieval prose romances which have echoes of older narratives
- where it is bestowed on a child born to Aranrhod: 'a fine boy-child
with rich yellow hair'. It was virtually unknown as a name before
D J Thomas disinterred it for his son.
Dylan Thomas was born in Swansea, South Wales, on October 27,1914,
two years after Woody Guthrie. He died in New York on November 9,1953.
There are some similarities in the social and cultural background
of the two Dylans. The English language is an obvious starting point,
for although Dylan Thomas is famous for being a Welsh poet he spoke
no Welsh. Indeed his father was the English master, as well as being
Headmaster, at Swansea Grammar School. He had a passionate interest
in the English language, especially Shakespeare, on which he exercised
his considerable powers of oratory. The bible was also part of this
cultural heritage which influenced the young Dylan Thomas. From an
early age then he, like Bob, had a fascination with words, not simply
because of the images they could evoke but also with the sound, the
feel, the colour even, of the words and phrases themselves.
Another common feature of their formative artistic years was that
each belonged to a minority sect and culture within a wider society
(Jewish/Welsh). I think that in their different ways the feelings
and the effects on their psychologies of belonging to a minority social
group possessing a strong cultural heritage were significant influences
on their artistic development.
They both grew up in middle class families, though living in mining
communities: iron ore and coal respectively. An interesting connection
here is that Dylan Thomas was a friend of Idris Davis who wrote Bells
of Rhymney, a protest poem-song about the capitalist mine-owners.
Bob Dylan was singing it in 1961, possibly hearing it from Pete Seeger
who subsequently recorded it. I hear echoes of those bells in Chimes
of Freedom.
In his most intense creative period many thought that Dylan Thomas
had a kind of death-wish: similarly many of Bob Dylan's friends thought
the same in the mid-sixties.
They both share artistic genius, though for the most part expressed
through different media. However, their preoccupations in general
are the same: love, death, life, sexual relationships... So also is
their use of words, employing them sometimes almost as colours or
counters to express feelings, occasionally willing to sacrifice meaning
if the word gives the right 'feel' or colour; or as a collage collapsing
time or the life process into a concentrated distillation of a few
stanzas. Though short, Dylan Thomas had a charismatic stage presence...
Okay, now for the test-your-Bob Dylan-knowledge-quiz. The following
statements are either about Bob Dylan or Dylan Thomas, illustrating
the many similarities between them over a range of categories. If
I were to ask you to choose from each of the following sections one
statement referring to Bob Dylan, which would it be? Take your time.
('Dylan' is used to denote either Bob Dylan or Dylan Thomas.)
WHICH DYLAN?
Women
1 'I don't like to wake up alone in the morning.'
2 Dylan had real charm; he could get round anybody, chiefly when he
was doing this little-boy-lost act he was so pathetic... and sweet.
Work
3 'I am in the path of Blake'.
4 "The greatest single word I know is 'drome' which, for some
reason, nearly opens the doors of heaven for me. 'Drome', 'bone',
'dome', 'doom' (are) visionary; God moves in a long 'o'."
5 "'Chime' is a beautiful word."
6 Little things would worry him, but he was never sensitive to criticism
of his work. Dylan was so deeply convinced of himself and what he
had got that he never cared a damn what other people thought.
7 He rarely explained his (work) to anyone; he always thought it should
speak for (itself), and that it wasn't for him to explain how he'd
struggled with structure (etc.).
Personal
8 The persona that he created for himself was the familiar one of
the individual at odds with the world, whose aim in the end was merely
to survive in hostile surroundings, a Charlie Chaplin-like figure
who seemed without pride.
9 One expects a recluse to remain in his cell ..someone hiding to
remain out of sight, not even showing himself in a mirror. But Dylan's
life presents an extraordinary paradox. While remaining hidden, he
sent into the world a counterfeit image of himself. This other Dylan
became part of the outer setting for the world of his own, Dylan's
much more real and worthwhile world under the world-of-others. The
counterfeit was accepted by many as the one and only Dylan... and
it has a corresponding degree of importance or unimportance.
The counterfeit Dylan was part of the false deluding 'outside world',
and his place in it was that of a young devil, unscrupulous (but understandably
so), ruthless (but forgivable), a liar (but expecting not to be believed),
a cheat (only in matters that really didn't count), and a cynic (how
dull to be otherwise!). This was the part he set himself to play,
and he played it convincingly. Described coldly on paper, the role
sounds repulsive but, in spite of this, Dylan was warmly accepted
by almost everyone who met him.
Religion
10 Dylan had a simple religious faith of his own, but it wasn't an
orthodox religion.
11 His .... are not so much influenced by, as soaked in, childhood
experiences of the Bible.
12 He was strongly attracted by the poetry of belief and repelled
by the poetry of unbelief.
Fantasy
13 When we first met, he invented a lot of whimsical fantasies about
himself which I didn't take in much. Because it was Dylan I was very
tolerant. To me, he was so endearing, lovable and comforting that
I could overlook this unreality, but I think many people were deceived
by the stories he told. He was always very careful with his fantasies.
14 Reporter: 'Why have you come to ... Mr ...? Dylan: 'In pursuit
of my life-long quest for naked women in wet mackintoshes.'
Appearance
15 He looked like an unmade bed - but the precise way in which the
bed was unmade was not solely a matter of chance. The sleeper had
made sure that it bore his very personal imprint.
16 Yes, he was vulnerable and very sensitive to obvious things, like
his height, his appearance and even his clothes (which was odd, because
he always dressed like a rag-bag).
Creativity
17 He wouldn't share his real self with anyone, and that is the mark
of the supreme artist.
18 I am sure he never meant to hurt me or anyone else; he was creating
lasting works ... while hurting all around. When you are creating
it takes up all of you and you are not aware of the way you are treating
other people: you are totally absorbed. Genius is selfish; the creative
process itself is selfish.
19 He was always restless, unable to stay in one place for long...
Other
20 He stole my... collection
21 Dylan had an endearing quality which you couldn't possibly deny.
He was made to be loved, and everybody loved him.
What do you think? It seems to me that each and everyone of these
could be about Bob Dylan. In fact, they are all about Dylan Thomas,
quoted from his wife, Caitlin, his close friend, Dan Jones, and a
biographer and editor of Thomas's letters, Paul Ferris. The books
are listed at the end for those who are interested in following up
some of these aspects of Dylan Thomas. In terms of their artistic
creations both Dylans also share several essential artistic interests:
a preoccupation with the constraints and pre-set parameters of human
existence, a retrospective view of lost youthful innocence, the 'doomed'
aspect of humanity, the human condition, and relationships with women.
I want to consider these aspects of their work in the spirit of exploring
some of the sources of these shared interests to see whether they
are temperamental and perhaps endemic to any artist, or the personal
psychologies/experiences of these two individuals.
I am not setting out to show that Bob Dylan and Dylan Thomas wrote
in the same style or about the same things. Nor am I attempting to
critically compare their work. They belong, after all, to different
generations, using different artistic media. Dylan Thomas was dying
in New York when Bob Dylan, artistic performer, was still eight years
from being created, Robert Zimmerman being only twelve in 1953. It
is worth remembering, though, that the media differences are not always
as great as they may seem, for Dylan Thomas felt that his poetry should
be read aloud and he usually wrote with this in mind. Much of his
prose was, in any case, written for radio - and, although prose, it
contains more poetic rhythm and language than many people's poetry.
In comparison, many Bob Dylan songs are poems, and although written
as songs and best appreciated in performance, they can be analysed
using the same artistic criticism as for poetic appreciation. Of course,
we have to be careful not to push that sort of comparison beyond its
reasonable limits.
Equally, it is fair to say that they each deal quite distinctively
with some other aspects: in the case of Bob Dylan, lifelong themes
have included social comment over a range of moral and political issues,
whereas Dylan Thomas rarely made such forays; Bob Dylan has always,
with the exception of his explicitly religious albums, written personalized
love songs of one sort or another, whereas Dylan Thomas rarely wrote
in that vein, except in personal letters.
Before dealing with these themes it's worth noting that both Dylans
share an ironic view of life, with a humorous and acute sense of the
ridiculous. Compare these letters, for example: a real one from Dylan
Thomas to Robert Pocock, BBC producer and friend, and an imaginary
one from Bob Dylan to 'Puck' (from Tarantula)
(To Robert Pocock) ...The landlord of the Fleece has
nearly lost his eye, our dog Mabli has eczema, our cat Satan had mange
and is now dead, Caitlin has gone to London with Margaret Taylor and
left me quite alone, the house beer has run out, I am three weeks
behind with my film-script, not having started it yet, my gas fire
has just exploded, I have flooded the kitchen with boiling soup, I
am broke, Caitlin has taken the cigarettes, I was suddenly sick in
the middle of the night, Phil has just sent me his 25 shilling book
about Hampton Court, rabbits have eaten the lettuce, and seven cows,
who have opened the gate, are trying to get into the lavatory. There
is no news. (Ferris, 1987,
p673.)
dear Puck,
traded in my electric guitar for what you call a gut one... you
can play it all by yourself - don't need a band - eliminates all the
fighting except of course for the other gut guitar players - am doing
well - have no idea of what's happening but all these girls with moustaches,
they're going crazy over me - you must try them sometime - weather
is good - threw away all my lefty frizell records - also got rid of
my parka - you can keep my cow as i now am on the road to freedom
(Dylan, 1976, p111.)
Some rhythmic patterns, although not exactly the same, do illustrate,
I think, the same thought processes employed by the two Dylans - the
image building, sometimes of conflicting images, and the use of alliteration
and internal rhyming to dramatic effect. Although dealing with very
different subject matter, these extracts from Under Milk Wood
and Subterranean Homesick Blues do have similar effects and,
I suspect, the same creative motivations.
...gobstoppers as big as wens that rainbow as you suck, brandy
balls, winegums, hundreds and thousands, liquorice sweet as sick,
nougat to tug and ribbon out like another red rubbery tongue, gum
to glue in girls' curls, crimson coughdrops to spit blood, ice-cream
cornets, dandelion-and-burdock, raspberry and cherryade, pop goes
the weasel and the wind. (Thomas,
1976,p60.)
Get sick, get well, hang around
an ink well
Ring bell, hard to tell if anything
is goin' to sell
Try hard, get barred, get back,
write braille,
Get jailed, jump bail, join the
army, if you fail.
Look out kid you're gonna get
hit by the losers, cheaters,
Six-time users, hang around the
theatres.
Girl in the whirlpool lookin'
for a new fool
Don't follow leaders, watch the
parkin' meters. (Dylan
1986, p60)
...starless and bible-black, the cobblestreets silent and the
hunched, courters'-and-rabbits' wood limping invisible down to the
sloeback, slow, black, crowblack, fishingboat-bobbing sea... Hush,
the babies are sleeping, the farmers, the fishers, the tradesmen,
the pensioners, cobbler, schoolteacher, postman and publican, the
undertaker and the fancywoman, drunkard, dressmaker, preacher, policeman,
the webfoot cocklewomen and the tidy wives. (Thomas
1976, p1)
YOUTHFUL INNOCENCE
A recurring theme in Dylan Thomas's work is that of lost childhood.
For him it is more than the loss of innocence and of those carefree
days, it forms part of his life-view of predetermined constraints,
of that inexorable doom to which all life is subjected. Bob Dylan
casts only sporadic backward glances, though when he does they are
typically vely poignant. (In cases where Dylan has not, or rarely
used phrases as printed in 'Lyrics', I have taken the commonly performed
version.)
In Bob Dylan's Dream Dylan reflects on a simplistic, idealistic
time of innocence:
With haunted hearts through
the heat and cold
We never thought we would get
very old.
We thought we could sit forever
in fun
But our chances really was a million
to one. (Dylan,
1986, p62)
In Poem in October Dylan Thomas, on the occasion of his 'thirtieth
year to heaven', is walking and reminiscing:
And I saw in the turning
so clearly a child's
Forgotten mornings when
he walked with his mother
Through
the parables
Of
sun light
And the legends of the
green chapels...
...
And the true
Joy of the long dead
child sang burning
In
the sun. (Jones,
1974, p178)
Reflecting on childhood dreams and expectations Dylan says:
Someday little girl, everything
for you is gonna be new
Someday little girl, you'll have
a diamond as big as your shoe.
(Under
the Red Sky. Dylan, 1991)
In Fern Hill Dylan Thomas writes:
Now as I was young and easy
under the apple boughs
About the lilting house and happy
as the grass was green,
The night above the dingle starry,
Time let me hail and climb
Golden in the heydays of his eyes...
Nothing I cared in the lamb white
days, that time would take me
Up to the swallow thronged loft
by the shadow of my hand...
(Jones,
1974, pp.195-196)
In Return Journey, the prose piece for radio, Dylan Thomas
revisits his past as far back as childhood and there touches upon
a couple of themes also used by Dylan - escaping from the place, and
later, putting the world to rights:
Promenade Man: ...He used
to dawdle in the arches, you said, and lark about on the railway-lines
and holler at the sea. He'd mooch about the dunes and watch the
tankers and the tugs and the banana boats come out of
the docks. He was going to run away to sea...
Narrator: ...Then I went on my
way from the sea, up Brynhill Terrace and into Glanbrydan
Avenue where Bert Trick had kept
a grocer's shop and, in the kitchen, threatened the
annihilation of the ruling classes
over sandwiches and jelly and blancmange.
Park-keeper: ...Oh yes, I knew
him well. I think he was happy all the time...
(Thomas
1974a, pp86/88)
PREDETERMINED CONSTRAINTS
Both Dylans have, I think, a profound sense of the great desire for
freedom, especially in the creative sense, yet at the same time knowing
that real freedom does not exist. We are programmed, railroaded through
life to death, we have to act, by the very nature of existence, within
fixed parameters. There may be choice and a degree of 'freedom' within
the boundary - though even here there is more 'choice' for some than
for others - but no-one can act outside that boundary - or can they?
Both of these artists wrestle in their work with the conflict of the
necessity of freedom and the iron constraint of the facts of human
existence and of death itself. In It's Alright Ma Dylan says:
For them that think death's
honesty
Won't fall upon them naturally
Life sometimes
Must get lonely.
He often uses death or the doom factor as a weapon against human injustice,
greed and violence, and his 'hero', Jesus, did when facing inequality
and oppression. We shall return to this aspect when we consider doom
as a theme in its own right. Dylan refers to this conflict between
freedom and natural constraint in Ballad in Plain D, choosing
the epitomy of freedom, the bird:
Are birds free from the chains
of the skyway? (Dylan 1986, p142.)
A similar reference from Thomas is made in Fern Hill:
Oh as I was young and easy
in the mercy of his means,
Time held me green and dying
Though I sang in my chains like
the sea.
Also using the sea metaphor, Dylan says in Oh Sister:
Time is an ocean but it ends
at the shore. (Dylan 1986, p382.)
Both Dylans imply that they write for lovers or for those open to
love, and yet, in the end, they know that they write because they
are driven to it - they are themselves in chains, the chains of the
muse. In Eternal Circle, for instance, Dylan writes:
As the time finally folded
I laid down the guitar
Then looked for the girl
Who'd stayed for so long
But her shadow was missin'
For all of my searchin'
So I picked up my guitar
And began the next song.
And in In my Craft or Sullen Art Thomas says that he writes:
Not for the proud man apart
...
But for the lovers, their arms
Round the griefs of the ages
Who pay no heed or wages
Nor heed my craft or art.
(Jones 1974, pl96.)
Thomas develops this theme of programmed existence, not just for humanity
but for every living thing in The Force That Through The Green
Fuse Drives The Flower:
The force that through the
green fuse drives the flower
Drives my green age; that blasts
the roots of trees
Is my destroyer.
And I am dumb to tell the crooked
rose
My youth is bent by the same wintry
fever...'
(Jones
1974, p77.)
Dylan makes numerous references to fate and destiny throughout his
work.
For example:
It was destiny which pulled
us apart... (Idiot Wind. Dylan 1986 p367.)
The foggy web of destiny...
(Born In Time, Dylan 1991.)
'Blame it on a simple twist
of fate.' (Simple Twist of Fate, Dylan 1986, p360.)
Thomas says in Poem On His Birthday:
Under and round him go
Flounders, gulls, on their cold,
dying trails,
Doing what they are told,
Curlers aloud in the congered
waves
Work at their ways to death...
The voyage to ruin I must run...
(Jones,
1974, pp. 209/211.)
DOOM
For both Dylans doom, the end of the railroad line, death and all
its implications for the living, is the natural source of recurring
themes and artistic influence. Slow Train, Saved, and Shot of Love
are replete with examples of Dylan's heightened awareness of this
influence. Indeed, it took over his stage performances at one point
and made him overstep the line of artistry into the overtly philosophical
arena, something he had shied away from in the Sixties - such was
the strength of his feeling of the 'doom factor' at the time. It appears
to me that the ever-present doom scenario was brilliantly focused
in that period in a particular direction, giving a specific outcome
- answer even. Before then and since, although always lurking in the
smoky rings of his mind, it is never so focussed, though often nonetheless
effectively employed in creating artistically worthy song-poems. Giving
answers is not typically the forte of Dylan, or of any artist. Framing
awkward questions/situations and posing them in often exquisitely
painful ways is what mainly constitutes creative artistry.
Dylan Thomas, as we saw earlier, actually liked the word 'doom'. He
employed the concept too in terms of humankind and what we might make
of our existence. A sadness, a terrible pity seems to epitomise Thomas's
feelings about the doom scenario, whereas Dylan more often than not
uses the Old Testament, threatening, approach to it. Thomas says:
Where a boy
Summertime of the dead whispered
the truth of his joy
To the trees and the stones and
the fish in the tide.
(Poem
In October)
Dylan says:
Are you ready for the judgement?
Are you ready for that terrible
swift sword?
Are you ready for Armageddon?
Are you ready for the Lord?'
(Are
You Ready? Dylan, 1987, p450)
Sadly, the prophetic final line of Dylan Thomas's finished poems is:
As I sail out to die.
(Poem On His Birthday)
WOMEN
Dylan's artistic use of women is usually very personalized: he is
often addressing them individually and directly, sometimes by name
- Sara, Hazel, Johanna, Ramona ... Dylan Thomas, on the other hand
rarely addresses women so personally. His language is much more abstruse,
and even when it appears that the subject of the piece is an individual
woman, it seems to me that more often than not the feelings in the
poem are meant to be generalized to relationships between the sexes.
Whilst Dylan's feelings are naturally internalized by receptive listeners
I always feel that the subject is very personalized to Dylan, and
that we are, almost voyeuristically, eavesdropping on a very personal
relationship.
In both cases, there is little doubt that sexual relationships play
a vital part in their creative art, differently focused though it
is. It is also true that the form and language of some of Dylan's
earlier song-poems such as Visions of Johanna, Temporary Like
Achilles, and Fourth Time Around are similar to some
of Dylan Thomas's poems, as in, for example - In the White Giant's
Thigh, Ballad of the Long-Legged Bait, and Lament.
The use of metaphor and allusion, in particular, is similarly poetic.
I stood there and hummed,
I tapped on her drum and asked
her how come.
(Fourth
Time Around, Dylan 1987 p237)
Strike and smoothe, for my
decks are drums,
Sing through the water-spoken
prow...
(The
Ballad of the Long-Legged Bait, Jones 1974 pp.161)
Well, I rush into your hallway,
Lean against your velvet door...
Achilles is in your alleyway,
He don't want me here,
He does brag,
He's pointing to the sky...'
(Temporary
Like Achilles, Dylan 1987 p234)
He stands alone at the door
of his home,
With his long-legged heart in
his hand.
(The
Ballad of the Long-Legged Bait, Jones 1974 pp.161)
Well, your railroad gate,
you know I just can't jump it
Sometimes it gets so hard, you
see
I'm just sitting here beating
on my trumpet
With all these promises you left
for me...'
(Absolutely
Sweet Marie, Dylan 1987 p233)
Through throats where many
rivers meet, the women pray,
Pleading in the waded bay for
the seed to flow
Though the names on their weed
grown stones are rained away...
(In
the White Giant's Thigh, Jones 1974 p2)
We see this empty cage now
corrode
Where her cape of the stage once
had flowed...'
(Visions
of Johanna, Dylan 1983 p223)
Dylan's artistic dealings with womankind have usually been more direct,
then, than Thomas's, though often, especially from Desire onwards,
open to other, often mystical interpretations. Examples are Isis,
Oh Sister, New Pony, Precious Angel, In the Summertime, Let's Keep
it Between Us, Don't Fall Apart On Me Tonight, When the Night Comes
Falling From the Sky...
HUMAN CONDITION
Dylan has always written songs that could be described as concerning
the human condition, in the sense that Dickens wrote about Victorian
London: a concern for human life, justice, fair treatment, yet recognizing
that life must go on. Dylan Thomas's work is generally about the larger
issues of life, death and, as we have seen, doom. There are a few
poems, however, especially during the second world war, which, although
drawing wider inferences, were prompted by specific tragedies. So
a few points of comparison are, I think, instructive as to where both
Dylans are coming from.
Dylan first:
A blanket of newspaper covered
his head,
As the curb was his pillow, the
street was his bed.
One look at his face showed the
hard road he'd come
And a fistful of coins showed
the money he bummed.'
(Only
A Hobo, Dylan 1987 pl 19)
A solitary mister
Propped between trees and water
From the opening of the garden
lock
That lets the trees and water
enter
Until the Sunday sombre bell at
dark
Eating bread from a newspaper
Drinking water from a chained
cup...
...followed the hunchback
To his kennel in the dark.
(The
Hunchback In The Park, Jones (ed.) 1974. pp. 171)
There's seven people dead
On a South Dakota farm
Somewhere in the distance
There's seven new people born'
(Ballad
of Hollis Brown, Dylan 1987, p92)
Deep with the first dead lies
London's daughter
Robed in the long friends,
The grains beyond age, the dark
veins of her mother,
Secret by the unmourning water
Of the riding Thames.
After the first death there is
no other.
(A
Refusal To Mourn The Death, By Fire, Of a Child in London, Jones
(ed.) 1974
pp.192)
In summary, then, the two Dylans share many creative aspects, whilst
it is also true that they have significant differences. I hope this
piece may have stimulated interest in their interconnections and raised
some questions that you might wish to pursue by reading/listening
to Dylan Thomas.
REFERENCES
Dylan B, 1971, Tarantula. MacGibbon & Kee
Dylan B, 1987, Lyrics 1962-1985. Jonathan Cape
Dylan B, 1990, Oh Mercy Album. CBS Records Inc.
Dylan B, 1991, under the red sky Album. CBS Records Inc.
Ferris P, 1987, Dylan Thomas: The Collected Letters. Paladin
Fitzgibbon C, 1965, The Life of Dylan Thomas. J M Dent &
Sons Ltd
Jones D (Ed) 1974, Dylan Thomas: The Poems. J M Dent &
Sons Ltd.
Jones D, 1977, My Friend Dylan Thomas. J M Dent & Sons
Ltd.
Thomas C, 1986, Life With Dylan Thomas. Henry Holt &
Co
Thomas D, 1974a, Quite Early One Morning. Aldine Paperbacks
Thomas D, 1974b, Under Milk Wood. Aldine Paperbacks.
Quiz-quotes from:
Ferris, 4 p25, 5 pl82, 13 pxii
Fitzgibbon, 14 p211, 15 p227
Jones (1977). 1 p51, 9 pp110-111, 12 p51, 20 pll3
Thomas C, 2 pl, 3 p3, 6 p6, 7 pl25, 10 p87, 13 p56,
16 p6, 17 p57.
18 pl24, 19 pl29, 21 p6.
