Bob Dylan and Robert Frost

Hello viewers!👋

I am Maya Batiya, 

A student of M.A. sem-2 Department of English, M.K.B.U.

This Blog is a part of Thinking Activity about Bob Dylan and Robert Frost. 

Q-1. ) Which is your favorite Poet/Lyricist? Why?

Ans :

Robert Frost is my favorite poet, and a person who has changed not only the way I write poetry, but the way I live my life. Whenever I have a lot of difficulties and feel like the world is crashing on, I remind myself of Robert Frost’s old adage that life goes on.

In college, I turned frequently to Robert Frost’s poems to study but also for solace. I turned to the popular free verse poems like “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” and “The Road Not Taken,” but I also turned to lesser-known, long-form dramatic poems like “The Lesson For Today,” “The Mountain,” and “Home Burial.” I have a tattoo on my abdomen from reading Frost’s take on memento mori.

To be honest — I have been comfortable writing poetry, being a poet, or even reading poetry. I often will read through a poem once and think “did I miss something?” Often, yes — I probably missed a lot of things.

But, to Robert Frost, “poetry is a way of taking life by the throat.” To Frost, poetry was a condition, not a profession. Robert Frost wrote poetry because he was good at it, but later in his life, he wrote poetry because he needed to cope with unspeakable tragedy and, in his words, he needed to take life by the throat.

Q-2 .) Share some lines from the Bob Dylan songs that you feel are relatable to you. Also, write the themes visible in those lines.

Ans :

“Mama, put my guns in the ground

I can’t shoot them anymore

That cold black cloud is comin’ down

Feels like I’m knockin’ on heaven’s door” (Dylan).

This song has multiple possible interpretations which all lead to one conclusion: war is pointless, regular soldiers are tired and afraid of it. The feel of “knockin’ on heaven’s door” relates to the constant expectation of death from a soldiers’ perspective. The theme of pacifism takes a special place in Dylan’s songs, as the government purely controls wars with no people’s incentive behind them. The decisions of the few that harm the lives of the millions if not billions are unjustifiable and cannot be forgiven. Anti-war thoughts the musician had not only involved saying “war is bad,” but describing the horrors of war on the lowest levels, the levels of close combat and separation from families. It is much stronger to describe the ruined lives of the soldiers and their emotions to inflict changes upon the society, and Dylan had shown a great level of expertise and empathy when he wrote his pacifist-oriented songs.

Themes:   One of the most obvious themes in Bob Dylan’s songs is his anti-war, pacifist, peaceful approach to the global culture.

Q-3 .) Share some lines from the Robert Frost poems that you feel are relatable to you. Also, write the themes visible in those lines.

Ans:

And both that morning equally lay In leaves no step had trodden black. Oh, I kept the first for another day! Yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted I should ever come back. I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood and I— I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.

Frost’s poem “The Road Not Taken” can be interpreted in many ways, but ultimately, the theme of human experience rings in all interpretations. Here, using the metaphor of walking through the woods, the speaker examines how life is full of choices that affect our lives in one way or another. However, the speaker also clearly expresses that he believes that one can never truly know which choices are best and one must choose what feels right at the time, even if that choice seems less popular. The speaker recognizes how life moves and flows forward no matter what, and therefore, he must accept the choices he has made. The last line reveals that the speaker feels content with the path he chose and, as he can never know where the other path could have taken him, finds peace in his decision.

Themes:

The theme of human experience rings in all interpretations. 

Q- 4.) Post the picture clicked during the activity and share some lines of any songs from Movies, Poems, or any type of music you feel is relatable to the theme of songs by Bob Dylan and poems by Robert Frost. 

Answer:-

 Here are some lines from various songs and poems that share themes similar to those found in the works of Bob Dylan and Robert Frost:

1. Bob Dylan's "The Times They Are A-Changin'":

   "Come gather 'round people wherever you roam

   And admit that the waters around you have grown"

2.  Robert Frost's "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening":

   

"The woods are lovely, dark and deep,

   But I have promises to keep,

   And miles to go before I sleep,

   And miles to go before I sleep."

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