Dylan - Dannie Abse

From within this short poem created by Abse we get the thought that the persona is talking about the notion of idols and heroes that are dead. From within the first short stanza we get the words, "A heard silence" we see that their is greating loss within this room and the silence, normally known to be stated as nothing, was heard by everyone could suggest that this death has had a powerful impact upon the people. It appears as though silence has taken over.
From the line, "A stone dropped down the well" we get the use of imagery by Abse and from this get the notion of how that silence is broken so easily with the scuffle of the stone and the echo it creates as it hits the water below. Perhaps this is a metaphor created by Abse which portrays Dylans slow fall to death and the sharp sound of the splash at the end is the shock for everyone that knew and loved him when hearing his death.
As we continue on to the next stanza we see that Dylan had nothing before and is placed as being reckless due to the word "arson". From within the beginning of this stanza we see that Dylan had nothing from the word "impecunious" and continuing with the line we see his life was "like water spilled from a cupped hand". From this we get the impression that perhaps Dylan had a great deal of support from other around him but there was only so much they could take of him. Even with the hands held firmly together, the water is still able to escape and we see that from this similie that Dylan was beginning to loose the support of others throughout this time.
From within the end of the stanza we see that fame came towards him and we see that there could be his desire towards women with the use of the words "lust" and "pimp". From this we see that Dylan might of helped people get their desired lust and gained money by doing so, but had little respect towards the women. The line, "wearing jewels over her sores" supports this due to her covering herself up with the money she has gained. From this however we see that he was not a liked man and we see this due to her words at the end of the poem saying, "Dilly, Dilly come and be killed". From this negative line we see that he was not a loved man as we appeared to of thought at the beginning of the poem. He was really caring only for himself and took what he needed. A poem by Larkin that would link to Abse would be the poem For Sydney Bechet due to how it portrays people that had an importance of life. Myself personally think that the poem Afternoons or Faith Healing is a good example as well due to them showing a negative approach to women also.