Bob Dylan's Pulitzer Prize

tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23758043.post-55001232659262962612008-04-09T16:48:00.003-05:002008-04-09T17:03:29.867-05:00Bob Dylan's Pulitzer PrizeBob Dylan was awarded an honorary Pulitzer Prize this week for his "profound impact on popular music and American culture, marked by lyrical compositions of extraordinary poetic power." Congrats Bob! Well deserved. Whether you respect Dylan as a musician or not, you have to respect him as a poet. He has said, after all, that he is a poet first and a musician second. I am reading Christopher Ricks' book <a style="font-style: italic;" href="%3Cobject%20width=%22425%22%20height=%22355%22%3E%3Cparam%20name=%22movie%22%20value=%22http://www.youtube.com/v/AR4PQ30VkBk&hl=en%22%3E%3C/param%3E%3Cparam%20name=%22wmode%22%20value=%22transparent%22%3E%3C/param%3E%3Cembed%20src=%22http://www.youtube.com/v/AR4PQ30VkBk&hl=en%22%20type=%22application/x-shockwave-flash%22%20wmode=%22transparent%22%20width=%22425%22%20height=%22355%22%3E%3C/embed%3E%3C/object%3E">Dylan's Visions of Sin</a>. Ricks, who is an English professor and literary critic, is quick to point out the power of Dylan's poetry. Dylan is better compared to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T.S._Elliot">T.S. Elliot</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Hardy">Thomas Hardy</a>, and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Taylor_Coleridge">Samuel Coleridge</a> than the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. In one of the opening chapters, Ricks says Dylan was at his best when he wrote, "<a href="http://www.bobdylan.com/moderntimes/songs/hattie.html">The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll.</a>" This song is one of the examples of the power of Dylan's poetry. To celebrate, watch this video that has nothing to to with Bob Dylan but this little girl is pretty adorable. How many of us adults have the Lord's Prayer memorized? <object height="355" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/AR4PQ30VkBk&hl=en"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/AR4PQ30VkBk&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" height="355" width="425"></embed></object>Derek Vreelandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06278564226756132082noreply@blogger.com