Analysis of Temps Perdu

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



I never may turn the loop of a road
  Where sudden, ahead, the sea is Iying,
But my heart drags down with an ancient load-
  My heart, that a second before was flying.

I never behold the quivering rain-
  And sweeter the rain than a lover to me-
But my heart is wild in my breast with pain;
  My heart, that was tapping contentedly.

There's never a rose spreads new at my door
  Nor a strange bird crosses the moon at night
But I know I have known its beauty before,
  And a terrible sorrow along with the sight.

The look of a laurel tree birthed for May
  Or a sycamore bared for a new November
Is as old and as sad as my furtherest day-
  What is it, what is it, I almost remember?


Scheme ABAB CDCD EFEF GHGH
Poetic Form Traditional rhyme
Quatrain 
Metre 1101101101 110010111 1111111101 11101001110 1100101001 01001101011 1111101111 1111100100 1100111111 1011100111 11111111001 001001001101 0110101111 10101101010 1110111111 11111111010
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 676
Words 137
Sentences 5
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 16
Letters per line (avg) 32
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 129
Words per stanza (avg) 34
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 18, 2023

41 sec read
118

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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