Analysis of The Dramatists

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



A string of shiny days we had,
  A spotless sky, a yellow sun;
And neither you nor I was sad
  When that was through and done.

But when, one day, a boy comes by
  And pleads me with your happiest vow,
"There was a lad I knew--" I'll sigh,
  "I do not know him now."

And when another girl shall pass
  And speak a little name I said,
Then you will say, "There was a lass-
  I wonder is she dead."

And each of us will sigh, and start
  A-talking of a faded year,
And lay a hand above a heart,
  And dry a pretty tear.


Scheme ABAB CDCD EFEF GXGX
Poetic Form Quatrain  (75%)
Metre 01110111 01010101 01011111 111101 11110111 011111001 11011111 111111 01010111 01010111 11111101 110111 01111101 01010101 01010101 010101
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 508
Words 110
Sentences 5
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 16
Letters per line (avg) 23
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 92
Words per stanza (avg) 27
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

32 sec read
137

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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