I guess, unless we have a chat with Mr Dylan himself, we can only speculate about what was going on in his head when the song came to him. His 'John Wesley Harding' album was released soon after he recovered from a bad motorbike crash that got him laid up for more than 6 months. Dylan was doing a lot of reading during his convalescnce, especially the French poet Rimbaud. The minimalist imagery of "As I Went Out One Morning" strikes me as influenced by Rimbaud's impressionistic poetry. A lot is hinted at but never stated, and the internal drama is stark and symbolic, like seeing from afar two people silhouetted against a desolate backdrop, and not getting any other clues about the context of their encounter.
"The fairest damsel that ever did walk in chains" - this conjures a powerful sense of the Feminine Principle, the Goddess suppressed by the rise of patriarchy, the commodification of female beauty in the form of sex slavery, prostitution, the Kept Woman. The romantic poet offers her his hand in friendship - but the damsel is desperate, hungry for more than companionship - she wants his lifelong allegiance, his whole arm, not just his hand... and this makes him panic, afraid of being trapped, or being taken over completely by an unknown power.
He tells this beautiful vision to leave, but only with his voice - not his heart. She can feel his vulnerability, and refuses to let go. She offers him her affections ("I will secretly accept you") and suggests that they elope ("and together we'll fly south") where human conventions do not apply - the south representing body wisdom, the loins, the instinctual self - as opposed to the north, the rational Apollonian intellect, social mores.
But as the romantic poet stands undecided, the master himself, Tom Paine, shows up and reclaims his slave - and he apologizes, gentleman to gentleman, for any inconvenience or embarrassment caused. The window of opportunity closes - there will be no drama, no elopement with another man's wife or sister. The poet can continue his walk in peace, but he will spend the rest of his life thinking about the mysterious beauty who assailed him one morning and pleaded to be rescued from her unhappy lot.
And the irony of it all - Tom Paine intellectualized about freedom and justice, yet was unwittingly part of a male-dominated system that subjugated the Feminine Principle, that enslaved Eros in service of the Status Quo, of respectability and convention.
There are so many complex ideas compressed into this short, enigmatic song. Literary analysts could write entire dissertations around this one little-known Bob Dylan masterpiece. Incidentally, Mr Dylan celebrates his 70th birthday today. Happy Birthday, Bob!
I guess, unless we have a chat with Mr Dylan himself, we can only speculate about what was going on in his head when the song came to him. His 'John Wesley Harding' album was released soon after he recovered from a bad motorbike crash that got him laid up for more than 6 months. Dylan was doing a lot of reading during his convalescnce, especially the French poet Rimbaud. The minimalist imagery of "As I Went Out One Morning" strikes me as influenced by Rimbaud's impressionistic poetry. A lot is hinted at but never stated, and the internal drama is stark and symbolic, like seeing from afar two people silhouetted against a desolate backdrop, and not getting any other clues about the context of their encounter.
"The fairest damsel that ever did walk in chains" - this conjures a powerful sense of the Feminine Principle, the Goddess suppressed by the rise of patriarchy, the commodification of female beauty in the form of sex slavery, prostitution, the Kept Woman. The romantic poet offers her his hand in friendship - but the damsel is desperate, hungry for more than companionship - she wants his lifelong allegiance, his whole arm, not just his hand... and this makes him panic, afraid of being trapped, or being taken over completely by an unknown power.
He tells this beautiful vision to leave, but only with his voice - not his heart. She can feel his vulnerability, and refuses to let go. She offers him her affections ("I will secretly accept you") and suggests that they elope ("and together we'll fly south") where human conventions do not apply - the south representing body wisdom, the loins, the instinctual self - as opposed to the north, the rational Apollonian intellect, social mores.
But as the romantic poet stands undecided, the master himself, Tom Paine, shows up and reclaims his slave - and he apologizes, gentleman to gentleman, for any inconvenience or embarrassment caused. The window of opportunity closes - there will be no drama, no elopement with another man's wife or sister. The poet can continue his walk in peace, but he will spend the rest of his life thinking about the mysterious beauty who assailed him one morning and pleaded to be rescued from her unhappy lot.
And the irony of it all - Tom Paine intellectualized about freedom and justice, yet was unwittingly part of a male-dominated system that subjugated the Feminine Principle, that enslaved Eros in service of the Status Quo, of respectability and convention.
There are so many complex ideas compressed into this short, enigmatic song. Literary analysts could write entire dissertations around this one little-known Bob Dylan masterpiece. Incidentally, Mr Dylan celebrates his 70th birthday today. Happy Birthday, Bob!