"I see my light come shining
From the west unto the east."
If sunlight is shining from the west unto the east, the sun is in the west and about to set. So if his light is shining from the west unto the east, his life is about to set (end).
@eawgoalie I have another, simpler meaning for this line. See the man is in prison, and he is despondent, so he just sits there with his head down and stares at the floor. Now in the proverbial prison cell there is just a small slit in the wall, high above, that lets in light. And when the sun rising in the EAST, the slit in the wall lights up the WEST side of the cell. As the day goes by and the sun travels to the WEST, the last light shines on the EAST side of...
@eawgoalie I have another, simpler meaning for this line. See the man is in prison, and he is despondent, so he just sits there with his head down and stares at the floor. Now in the proverbial prison cell there is just a small slit in the wall, high above, that lets in light. And when the sun rising in the EAST, the slit in the wall lights up the WEST side of the cell. As the day goes by and the sun travels to the WEST, the last light shines on the EAST side of the cell floor.. So all day long the prisoner just watches the small shaft of light on the floor travel from the "west down to the east". One of Dylan's deepest and sublime lines.
Yes, this is what is probably happening in the literal sense. Leaving it there shortchanges the lyric though, as all it does it give imagery without too much deeper meaning - a prisoner waiting to die - pictured by the passing of time. The deeper poetic meaning behind the line, I would personally say, is most likely my interpretation.
Yes, this is what is probably happening in the literal sense. Leaving it there shortchanges the lyric though, as all it does it give imagery without too much deeper meaning - a prisoner waiting to die - pictured by the passing of time. The deeper poetic meaning behind the line, I would personally say, is most likely my interpretation.
It's definitely has double meaning though and I would be pretty confident in saying that we each got half of it. Which actually is maybe what you're saying upon re-reading your post.
It's definitely has double meaning though and I would be pretty confident in saying that we each got half of it. Which actually is maybe what you're saying upon re-reading your post.
@eawgoalie Yes, exactly! These are levels of meaning here, as you noted. Which is why I think that this is one of Dylan's most sublime and powerful lines. His brilliance should get him a Nobel Prize! (LOL!).
@eawgoalie Yes, exactly! These are levels of meaning here, as you noted. Which is why I think that this is one of Dylan's most sublime and powerful lines. His brilliance should get him a Nobel Prize! (LOL!).
@eawgoalie I'm with @shaytee. I think this line is describing what he sees every day. The image that comes to my mind he's in the prison yard with high concrete walls. He can't watch the sun rise or set. What he does see once the sun rises above the east wall it lights the top of the west wall. The sun shine then progresses down the west wall, across the yard up the east wall until it falls below the top of the west wall. Every day the same and the opposite of what he'd see if he could...
@eawgoalie I'm with @shaytee. I think this line is describing what he sees every day. The image that comes to my mind he's in the prison yard with high concrete walls. He can't watch the sun rise or set. What he does see once the sun rises above the east wall it lights the top of the west wall. The sun shine then progresses down the west wall, across the yard up the east wall until it falls below the top of the west wall. Every day the same and the opposite of what he'd see if he could see the horizon.
"I see my light come shining From the west unto the east."
If sunlight is shining from the west unto the east, the sun is in the west and about to set. So if his light is shining from the west unto the east, his life is about to set (end).
@eawgoalie I have another, simpler meaning for this line. See the man is in prison, and he is despondent, so he just sits there with his head down and stares at the floor. Now in the proverbial prison cell there is just a small slit in the wall, high above, that lets in light. And when the sun rising in the EAST, the slit in the wall lights up the WEST side of the cell. As the day goes by and the sun travels to the WEST, the last light shines on the EAST side of...
@eawgoalie I have another, simpler meaning for this line. See the man is in prison, and he is despondent, so he just sits there with his head down and stares at the floor. Now in the proverbial prison cell there is just a small slit in the wall, high above, that lets in light. And when the sun rising in the EAST, the slit in the wall lights up the WEST side of the cell. As the day goes by and the sun travels to the WEST, the last light shines on the EAST side of the cell floor.. So all day long the prisoner just watches the small shaft of light on the floor travel from the "west down to the east". One of Dylan's deepest and sublime lines.
@shaytee
@shaytee
Yes, this is what is probably happening in the literal sense. Leaving it there shortchanges the lyric though, as all it does it give imagery without too much deeper meaning - a prisoner waiting to die - pictured by the passing of time. The deeper poetic meaning behind the line, I would personally say, is most likely my interpretation.
Yes, this is what is probably happening in the literal sense. Leaving it there shortchanges the lyric though, as all it does it give imagery without too much deeper meaning - a prisoner waiting to die - pictured by the passing of time. The deeper poetic meaning behind the line, I would personally say, is most likely my interpretation.
It's definitely has double meaning though and I would be pretty confident in saying that we each got half of it. Which actually is maybe what you're saying upon re-reading your post.
It's definitely has double meaning though and I would be pretty confident in saying that we each got half of it. Which actually is maybe what you're saying upon re-reading your post.
@eawgoalie Yes, exactly! These are levels of meaning here, as you noted. Which is why I think that this is one of Dylan's most sublime and powerful lines. His brilliance should get him a Nobel Prize! (LOL!).
@eawgoalie Yes, exactly! These are levels of meaning here, as you noted. Which is why I think that this is one of Dylan's most sublime and powerful lines. His brilliance should get him a Nobel Prize! (LOL!).
@eawgoalie I'm with @shaytee. I think this line is describing what he sees every day. The image that comes to my mind he's in the prison yard with high concrete walls. He can't watch the sun rise or set. What he does see once the sun rises above the east wall it lights the top of the west wall. The sun shine then progresses down the west wall, across the yard up the east wall until it falls below the top of the west wall. Every day the same and the opposite of what he'd see if he could...
@eawgoalie I'm with @shaytee. I think this line is describing what he sees every day. The image that comes to my mind he's in the prison yard with high concrete walls. He can't watch the sun rise or set. What he does see once the sun rises above the east wall it lights the top of the west wall. The sun shine then progresses down the west wall, across the yard up the east wall until it falls below the top of the west wall. Every day the same and the opposite of what he'd see if he could see the horizon.