When Oxford’s current Professor of Poetry, delved into the world of Dylan, the Bailie Gifford Stage transformed into a celebration of musicality, lyricism and philosophy. From unpacking the rhyming structures of Dylan’s work to asking why he made the creative decisions he did, Armitage paid homage to the Nobel Peace Prize-winning American.
“Cue Marks’ & Spacer style advert,” he said, “Rich, creamy lyrics drizzled with tantalizing metaphors and served on a bed of ripe topicality. This isn’t just song writing, this is poetic song writing.” Armitage proved himself to be a Dylan fan from the outset. However, his obvious admiration didn’t stop him from picking the singer apart with the sharp eye of a literary alchemist.
He called him a “reliably unreliable witness”, highlighting the plethora of contradistinctions Dylan has become known for over the course of his seismic career. He focused on Dylan’s song, The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll, going through the implausible facts of its lyrics in an academic way. “I’m being pedantic, of course,” he said, “because pedantry is a staple of literary criticism.” That aside, Armitage’s talk proved to be an in-depth exploration of one of the world’s finest rule-breaking anti-establishment musicians. If only he’d been there to respond.
If you missed this event, you might also like event number 206, Poetry Reading: Anecdotal Evidence, at 7pm on Tuesday, May 29th.