Dylan biography 2 naomi and ruth

By Larry Fyffe

Bob Dylan references the Romantic poets, especially those outstanding in their field; like them, he depicts women as being closer to Mother Nature than the male since the female body synchronizes with the cycles of the moon.

“There was me and Danny Lopez, cold eyes, black night, and then there was Ruth
Something there is about you that brings back a long-forgotten truth
Suddenly I found you and the spirit in me sings
Don’t have to look no further, you’re the soul of many things”
(Something There Is About You)

Dylan read about Ruth and the corn in the Bible:

“And Ruth … said unto Naomi, Let me now go to the field,
and glean ears of corn after him in  whose sight I shall find grace”
(Ruth 2:2)

And the ghost of William Wordsworth, the worthy wordsmith of the Romantic transcendentalist poets, nods his head:

“Behold her single in the field
Yon solitary Highland Lass
Reaping and singing by herself
Stop here, or