Analysis of The Little Old Lady in Lavender Silk
Dorothy Parker 1893 (Long Branch) – 1967 (New York City)
I was seventy-seven, come August,
I shall shortly be losing my bloom;
I've experienced zephyr and raw gust
And (symbolical) flood and simoom.
When you come to this time of abatement,
To this passing from Summer to Fall,
It is manners to issue a statement
As to what you got out of it all.
So I'll say, though reflection unnerves me
And pronouncements I dodge as I can,
That I think (if my memory serves me)
There was nothing more fun than a man!
In my youth, when the crescent was too wan
To embarrass with beams from above,
By the aid of some local Don Juan
I fell into the habit of love.
And I learned how to kiss and be merry- an
Education left better unsung.
My neglect of the waters Pierian
Was a scandal, when Grandma was young.
Though the shabby unbalanced the splendid,
And the bitter outmeasured the sweet,
I should certainly do as I then did,
Were I given the chance to repeat.
For contrition is hollow and wraithful,
And regret is no part of my plan,
And I think (if my memory's faithful)
There was nothing more fun than a man!
Scheme | abab cdcd efeF ghgh fifi xjxj dfxF |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Quatrain |
Metre | 1110010110 111011011 1010010011 01101 1111111010 111011011 1110110010 111111111 111101011 001011111 1111110011 111011101 0111010111 101011101 101111011 110101011 01111101101 01011001 10110101 101011011 1010010010 0010101 1110011111 011001101 101011001 001111111 01111110 111011101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,019 |
Words | 199 |
Sentences | 9 |
Stanzas | 7 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 28 |
Letters per line (avg) | 29 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 115 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 28 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 18, 2023
- 1:00 min read
- 266 Views
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