Bob Dylan and that “Italian Poet from the Thirteenth Century”

Abstract

Beginning with a verse in Bob Dylan’s “Tangled up in Blue” that details two characters reading a book of poems by an unnamed Italian poet from the thirteenth century, the direct and ‘diffused’ influence of Dante upon the great American songwriter and Nobel Laurate is investigated. Further, a possibly intentional narrative similarity is proposed between the story told in “Tangled up in Blue” and the one Francesca tells in Inferno 5. After exploring the available evidence regarding the explicit influence of Dante’s work upon the songwriter, and other hypotheses related to the verse from this song in particular, sources for Dante’s diffused influence upon Dylan are discussed. With often enigmatic lyrics and elusive statements, this latter point regarding Dante’s abundant presence in literary works we know Dylan read confirms the role Dante plays—in one way or another—within Dylan’s lyrical oeuvre, even if the identity of that thirteenth century Italian poet in the song will likely remain a mystery.

Keywords

• Dante Alighieri
• Bob Dylan
• Tangled up in Blue
• Inferno 5
• Ezra Pound
• T.S. Eliot