Analysis of Symptom Recital

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



I do not like my state of mind;
I'm bitter, querulous, unkind.
I hate my legs, I hate my hands,
I do not yearn for lovelier lands.
I dread the dawn's recurrent light;
I hate to go to bed at night.
I snoot at simple, earnest folk.
I cannot take the gentlest joke.
I find no peace in paint or type.
My world is but a lot of tripe.
I'm disillusioned, empty-breasted.
For what I think, I'd be arrested.
I am not sick, I am not well.
My quondam dreams are shot to hell.
My soul is crushed, my spirit sore;
I do not like me any more.
I cavil, quarrel, grumble, grouse.
I ponder on the narrow house.
I shudder at the thought of men....
I'm due to fall in love again.


Scheme AABBCCDDEEFFGGHHIIJJ
Poetic Form Etheree  (25%)
Tetractys  (20%)
Metre 11111111 11010001 11111111 1111111 11010101 11111111 11110101 110101001 11110111 11110111 10101010 111111010 11111111 1111111 11111101 11111101 1110101 11010101 11010111 11110101
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 648
Words 135
Sentences 17
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 20
Lines Amount 20
Letters per line (avg) 24
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 487
Words per stanza (avg) 133
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 14, 2023

42 sec read
164

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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