Expecting Rain

To the Muses

Whether on Ida's shady brow,
Or in the chambers of the East,
The chambers of the sun, that now
From ancient melody have ceas'd;

Whether in Heav'n ye wander fair,
Or the green corners of the earth,
Or the blue regions of the air,
Where the melodious winds have birth;

Whether on crystal rocks ye rove,
Beneath the bosom of the sea
Wand'ring in many a coral grove,
Fair Nine, forsaking Poetry!

How have you left the ancient love
That bards of old enjoy'd in you!
The languid strings do scarcely move!
The sound is forc'd, the notes are few!

- William Blake

#metoo

Well, Joan is one of the most annoying human beings on the planet, so its between Sarah and Suze. I went for Sarah. Not sure why. What's the criteria to rank them anyway?

The songs, I assume?

The songs they inspired? Is there a list of them, per muse?

I guess so.

'Ballad in Plain D', 'She Belongs to Me', 'Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands', etc.

And the calculation of albums currently circulating polls on the first page that relate to the time period Dylan spent with these women, minus the amount of words found within Moby-Dick, All Quiet on the Western Front, and The Odyssey; each book correlates to a particular muse but I'll leave that open to interpretation.

Those polls seem to be getting out of hand. Now we're ranking people? All inspired great songs and there should be no contest in this.

Also, regarding wormington answer, why do you consider Joan to be "one of the most annoying human beings on the planet"? Are you talking about her message, the way she sings, her behaviour? To me it is a rather inelegant comment, to say the least. But I'd like to know your thoughts.

Also also, we could include many more women who inspired Bob (Hattie Carroll, Echo Helstrom, Brigitte Bardot, Edie Sedgwick, Carolyn Dennis, Alicia Keys).

What's next? Mary Ann vs. Ginger? Jan vs. Marcia? Bailey Quarters vs. Jennifer Marlowe?

Not worthy of a serious group

this poll's ridiculous. not voting, why bother.

Good idea, Hank! I'll leave it to you to get the party started.

We need more polls round here; I haven't seen one in a while.

Suze (cough).

They correlate, do they? I think I´m beggining to get the hang of this...

It´s her voice and her behavior. I personally find her extremely annoying, but that´s just me. And you are right, it wasn´t my classiest moment She´s probably a good person. If you ever read this, Mrs. Baez, ignore this insignificant little invertebrate

No one can blame me ive retired from starting polls!

true.
why is obvious
correct



The muse

I think there's only one person who can truly give us the correct answer to this one.

some songs likely inspired by radiant jewel, Sara;

Sad eyed lady
Isis
Sara
we better talk this over
Abandoned love
Down along the cove
wedding song
On a night like this
Something there is about you
I'll be your baby tonight
To be alone with you
If not for you
Where are you tonight?
Love minus zero
& every song on Blood on the Tracks

Not really a fair comparison as Baez has always been such a relentless self-promoter and the other two were rather reclusive, especially Sara.

I vote for Sally Grossman, just because.

When whoever it was started posted polls every five minutes, I considered doing this one myself, but felt it would have been in poor taste.

It's bad enough reducing Bob's art to some kind of popularity contest, but these are real people (who are still alive).

it's obviously Sara...

I dont find it in poor taste at all - we're not voting on them as people/human beings - just on their ability to inspire Bob.
Im going with Suze.

I realise the grotesque nature of reducing a female into merely an ideal suited for the inspiration of male artists (hence the "#metoo" crack), and then furthermore proceeding to rank them; I thought it was obvious enough that this was all created in jest, but apparently not. Regardless, it is obviously true of Dylan and most artists that their output is influenced by and directly correlated to the inspiration derived from their muse, and in hindsight (now sober), it is surely not too offensive nor lacking worth to discuss Dylan's obvious passion for the feminine spirit and its influence on his work. Besides, who boxes women into mythic, romantic ideals more so than Dylan? Have you listened to 'Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands' or 'Sara'?

"Sara, Sara,
Sweet virgin angel, sweet love of my life,
Sara, Sara,
Radiant jewel, mystical wife."

"Glamorous nymph with an arrow and bow."

The gravity of a muse's influence can be seen in the life and work Dante: the poet's unrequited love for Beatrice Portinari was the principal source of inspiration for The New Life, and she featured as one of his guides in the Divine Comedy. They met only twice in real life, on occasions separated by nine years, but the poet was so affected by the meetings that he carried his love for her throughout his entire life.

On a side note, without trying to over-psychoanalyse, when Dylan lost Sara he found his inspiration in Christ.

I'm not going to vote in this poll because any of them have nothing to do with the quality of the songs inspired by them. The quality of the songs belongs to Dylan and anyone else.

Having said this... ¡Aúpa "La Baez"! I love the way she sings and I love the way she acts. What a woman! Joan Baez forever!



PS: I'm not dismising the other two... I'm defending Joan from these attacks. The world needs more people like Joan Baez.