I'm certain that this is going to be a little difficult for some of you to grasp, because your not Jewish. And because it is not politicaly correct to think in ethnic terms. Although I have no idea why that is, being a pre-1960's liberal, I have less trouble with that then you young people.

Bobby Zimmerman, although Born in Duluth, spent al lot of time in Hibbing Minnesota. Hibbing is a fairly small iron mining town in a very rural area, in a very anti-semetic state. Or at least it was in the 1940's and 50's. WW2 exacerbated anti-semitism every where in the USA, and on the Iron Range was even worse. Combine that fact with the fact that the Jewish population was comparitively small, and alienated from the mainstream of society by traditional Jewish zenophobia. There you have the makings of a very cynical yong man. Being a brilliant "outsider" didn't stop there. When he went to the U of M he found that his Iron Range background made him seem wierd to the hyper-urban Jews who all had known each other for decades. His natural affinities lead him to the out-cast society of Beats in Dinky Town. The rest is in the books. Thus the natural gloomy character of the introspective Jew, the pain of being an outcast (his fame has continued to isolate him, I'm sure),and the fact that the poetics of mankind's weakness is in itself a deprssing subject, leads me to believe that his life is a melancholy affair. He has paid the price of the great poet. He is the un-crowned poet lauriate of my genration. He sings the sad song of mandkind. He accomplished what I think he always wanted: He wanted the "others" to know what he saw in them. But he will never be happy. It is the plight of the wandering Jew.