A Dream Lies Dead

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



A dream lies dead here. May you softly go
Before this place, and turn away your eyes,
Nor seek to know the look of that which dies
Importuning Life for life. Walk not in woe,
But, for a little, let your step be slow.
And, of your mercy, be not sweetly wise
With words of hope and Spring and tenderer skies.
A dream lies dead; and this all mourners know:

Whenever one drifted petal leaves the tree-
Though white of bloom as it had been before
And proudly waitful of fecundity-
One little loveliness can be no more;
And so must Beauty bow her imperfect head
Because a dream has joined the wistful dead!

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on May 03, 2023

34 sec read
159

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABBAABBA CDCDEE
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 608
Words 116
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 8, 6

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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    Quiz

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    Lewis Carroll wrote: "You are old father William, the young man said..."
    A "and you seem to have lost your sight"
    B "and you're going to die tonight"
    C "and your hair has become very white"
    D "and your eyes have become less bright"