In this song, Bob Dylan seems to be
actually be hinting at a coming apocalypse. He wrote this song during the
Cuban Missile Crisis, and therefore it makes sense that he wrote these lyrics
that foresee a hard rain falling upon mankind.
Many of the lines in the song can be
traced, however, to modern day events. This could be considered a
confessional, since Dylan is confessing such dark times for the world.
The rhyme structure is the basic ending of
each line rhyming or having the same sound.
Dylan uses lyrical poetry in the song, as
he gives his opinion on where the world is headed and explains the sad feeling
he has for what he is singing about. It is also narrative poetry, as he
is telling a story about what seems to be the earth’s darkest days. He also uses personification for such things
as forests and oceans.
He uses figurative meaning constantly in
the song, as almost everything is a metaphor, irony, or a deeper meaning.
For instance, a few lines read, “I heard the sound of a thunder that
roared out a warnin’, heard the roar of a wave that could drown the whole world.” This can be interpreted as a tsunami, and I’m
sure everyone remembers what happened to New Orleans.
In another line, Dylan says, “I saw guns
and sharp swords in the hands of small children,” which alludes to the child
soldiers in Africa. It’s ironic that
Dylan said this in the 1960s…and it is happening now.
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