Analysis of Convalescent

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



How shall I wail, that wasn't meant for weeping?
Love has run and left me, oh, what then?
Dream, then, I must, who never can be sleeping;
What if I should meet Love, once again?

What if I met him, walking on the highway?
Let him see how lightly I should care.
He'd travel his way, I would follow my way;
Hum a little song, and pass him there.

What if at night, beneath a sky of ashes,
He should seek my doorstep, pale with need?
There could he lie, and dry would be my lashes;
Let him stop his noise, and let me read.

Oh, but I'm gay, that's better off without him;
Would he'd come and see me, laughing here.
Lord! Don't I know I'd have my arms about him,
Crying to him, "Oh, come in, my dear!"


Scheme ABAB CDCD XXXX EXEX
Poetic Form Quatrain  (50%)
Metre 11111101110 111011111 11111101110 111111101 1111110101 111110111 11011111011 101010111 11110101110 11111111 11110111110 111110111 11111101011 111011101 11111111011 101111011
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 687
Words 143
Sentences 12
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 16
Letters per line (avg) 32
Words per line (avg) 9
Letters per stanza (avg) 127
Words per stanza (avg) 35
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

44 sec read
132

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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