Analysis of The Lady's Reward

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



Lady, lady, never start
Conversation toward your heart;
Keep your pretty words serene;
Never murmur what you mean.
Show yourself, by word and look,
Swift and shallow as a brook.
Be as cool and quick to go
As a drop of April snow;
Be as delicate and gay
As a cherry flower in May.
Lady, lady, never speak
Of the tears that burn your cheek-
She will never win him, whose
Words had shown she feared to lose.
Be you wise and never sad,
You will get your lovely lad.
Never serious be, nor true,
And your wish will come to you-
And if that makes you happy, kid,
You'll be the first it ever did.


Scheme AABBCCDDEEFFGGHHIIJJ
Poetic Form Etheree  (40%)
Metre 1010101 0100111 1110101 1010111 1011101 1010101 1110111 1011101 1110001 10101001 1010101 1011111 1110111 1111111 1110101 1111101 10100111 0111111 01111101 11011101
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 577
Words 118
Sentences 7
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 20
Lines Amount 20
Letters per line (avg) 22
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 449
Words per stanza (avg) 116
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 02, 2023

35 sec read
202

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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