Analysis of Ballade Of A Talked-Off Ear
Dorothy Parker 1893 (Long Branch) – 1967 (New York City)
Daily I listen to wonder and woe,
Nightly I hearken to knave or to ace,
Telling me stories of lava and snow,
Delicate fables of ribbon and lace,
Tales of the quarry, the kill, the chase,
Longer than heaven and duller than hell-
Never you blame me, who cry my case:
"Poets alone should kiss and tell!"
Dumbly I hear what I never should know,
Gently I counsel of pride and of grace;
Into minutiae gayly they go,
Telling the name and the time and the place.
Cede them your silence and grant them space-
Who tenders an inch shall be raped of an ell!
Sympathy's ever the boaster's brace;
Poets alone should kiss and tell.
Why am I tithed what I never did owe?
Choked with vicarious saffron and mace?
Weary my lids, and my fingers are slow-
Gentlemen, damn you, you've halted my pace.
Only the lads of the cursed race,
Only the knights of the desolate spell,
May point me the lines the blood-drops trace-
Poets alone should kiss and tell.
Prince or commoner, tenor or bass,
Painter or plumber or never-do-well,
Do me a favor and shut your face
Poets alone should kiss and tell.
Scheme | ababbcbC ababbcbC ababbcbC xcbC |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1011011001 101111111 1011011001 1001011001 110100101 1011001011 101111111 10011101 111111011 1011011011 010100111 1001001001 111100111 11011111111 110011 10011101 1111111011 1101001001 1011011011 1001111011 10011011 1001101001 111010111 10011101 111001011 1011011011 110100111 10011101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,078 |
Words | 203 |
Sentences | 10 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 4 |
Lines Amount | 28 |
Letters per line (avg) | 30 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 208 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 50 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:01 min read
- 169 Views
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"Ballade Of A Talked-Off Ear" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 14 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/8125/ballade-of-a-talked-off-ear>.
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