The Rat Pack (film) become a big success despite the breakup of his partnership with Jerry Lewis; Sinatra's career is at its peak; Sammy Davis, Jr., is making a comeback after a near fatal car crash, and standup comic Joey Bishop is gaining exposure as an opening act for the other three. The Pack becomes complete when Sinatra reconciles with actor Peter Lawford, who has been ostracized since being seen out publicly with Sinatra's ex-wife, Ava Gardner. Lawford has married Patricia Kennedy. Abandoning a notion to seduce Pat for his own amusement, Sinatra becomes more interested in her brother John F. Kennedy's political ambitions.
Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands a poem by Swinburne, “Dolores”, published in 1866. Ricks describes Swinburne’s poem as an “anti-prayer to his anti-madonna, an interrogation that hears no need why it should ever end”. Ricks writes that “Dolores moves…’To a tune that enthralls and entices’, as does ‘Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands’.” Ricks makes the point that “Dolores” “insists upon listing… all of her energies, her incitements and excitements, her accoutrements, her weapons” as does “Sad Eyed Lady”. Ricks describes the way in which Dylan’s song attributes so many objects and qualities to the Sad Eyed Lady as “part inventory, part arsenal, these returns