My dictionary says that a parasite is something that draws nutrient from another living source without causing its death. I suppose I could have said symbiont, but it is more than that. On the other hand, since Shakespeare is the greatest writer in English, it was still obviously meant as a compliment. In fact, the model is pretty exact: Dylan, like Shakespeare -- and as the article says -- takes other people's work and tinkers with it. The change is in the tinkering, which evolves into originality. Early on in Dylan's career, he obviously stole songs, slightly altered folk songs, etc. He is famous for this. This is an interesting way of working if you keep it up through life. Many writers start off that way, and drop it as a methodology, as they get older. Dylan and Shakespeare seem to have kept it up. They don't spend their energy in creating the "frame", but in recasting the material within it. Other writers are "influenced" by other people's work; that is, the general idea or mood is borrowed. Dylan and Shakespeare take other people's work without disguising it (Plutarch for example) hardly at all. They seem undeterred by the anxiety of influence: most writers try and separate themselves from their sources; Dylan and Shakespeare seem to have felt strong enough to cope with being original within someone else's given work, and evolving out of it.

yours,

Peter T.