Christopher Ricks

And, I mean, as you say, I think a lot of people shy away from it, you know.

Some people eliminate performance altogether, um, like, um, Christopher Ricks, you know, who-

Mm

... flat out says, you know, he's a, he's a literature, a professor, so he's only going to write about the lyrics.

That's true

... choosing the one correct lens to look at Dylan.

I wouldn't want Christopher Ricks' work off the shelf.

I have done that kind of work myself.

But it's an exquisite expression of that.

Christopher Ricks, who we've spoken about once or twice before on this program, a famous critic who wrote very well about Keats.

He said about this poem, he said one of the things it's about is pressure.

He said that there's pressure downwards, which is loading and bending the trees.

Um-

I love it when, like, Christopher Ricks and Helen Vendler do it, but there's something about Empson that makes me feel a bit like he's moving cards very quickly in front of me, and I can't quite keep track of it.

And at the end, he brings out the answer, and I sort of have to accept it.

Yes.