Analysis of A Well-Worn Story

Dorothy Parker 1893 (Long Branch) – 1967 (New York City)



In April, in April,
My one love came along,
And I ran the slope of my high hill
To follow a thread of song.

His eyes were hard as porphyry
With looking on cruel lands;
His voice went slipping over me
Like terrible silver hands.

Together we trod the secret lane
And walked the muttering town.
I wore my heart like a wet, red stain
On the breast of a velvet gown.

In April, in April,
My love went whistling by,
And I stumbled here to my high hill
Along the way of a lie.

Now what should I do in this place
But sit and count the chimes,
And splash cold water on my face
And spoil a page with rhymes?


Scheme Abcb dede fgfg Ahch ijij
Poetic Form Quatrain 
Metre 010010 111101 011011111 1100111 11011100 1101101 11110101 1100101 010110101 0101001 111110111 10110101 010010 111101 011011111 0101101 11111011 110101 01110111 010111
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 585
Words 124
Sentences 7
Stanzas 5
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 20
Letters per line (avg) 23
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 92
Words per stanza (avg) 24
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 18, 2023

37 sec read
153

Dorothy Parker

Dorothy Parker was an American poet, short story writer, critic and satirist, best known for her wit, wisecracks, and eye for 20th-century urban foibles. more…

All Dorothy Parker poems | Dorothy Parker Books

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