Analysis of I Know I Have Been Happiest

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



I know I have been happiest at your side;
But what is done, is done, and all's to be.
And small the good, to linger dolefully-
Gayly it lived, and gallantly it died.
I will not make you songs of hearts denied,
And you, being man, would have no tears of me,
And should I offer you fidelity,
You'd be, I think, a little terrified.

Yet this the need of woman, this her curse:
To range her little gifts, and give, and give,
Because the throb of giving's sweet to bear.
To you, who never begged me vows or verse,
My gift shall be my absence, while I live;
But after that, my dear, I cannot swear.


Scheme ABXAABBA CXDCXD
Poetic Form
Metre 11111100111 1111110111 01011101 111010011 1111111101 01101111111 0111010100 111101010 1101110101 1101010101 010111111 1111011111 1111110111 1101111101
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 586
Words 119
Sentences 6
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 8, 6
Lines Amount 14
Letters per line (avg) 32
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 222
Words per stanza (avg) 59
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 29, 2023

36 sec read
171

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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