Ballade of Unfortunate Mammals
Dorothy Parker 1893 (Long Branch) – 1967 (New York City)
Love is sharper than stones or sticks;
Lone as the sea, and deeper blue;
Loud in the night as a clock that ticks;
Longer-lived than the Wandering Jew.
Show me a love was done and through,
Tell me a kiss escaped its debt!
Son, to your death you'll pay your due-
Women and elephants never forget.
Ever a man, alas, would mix,
Ever a man, heigh-ho, must woo;
So he's left in the world-old fix,
Thus is furthered the sale of rue.
Son, your chances are thin and few-
Won't you ponder, before you're set?
Shoot if you must, but hold in view
Women and elephants never forget.
Down from Caesar past Joynson-Hicks
Echoes the warning, ever new:
Though they're trained to amusing tricks,
Gentler, they, than the pigeon's coo,
Careful, son, of the curs'ed two-
Either one is a dangerous pet;
Natural history proves it true-
Women and elephants never forget.
L'ENVOI
Prince, a precept I'd leave for you,
Coined in Eden, existing yet:
Skirt the parlor, and shun the zoo-
Women and elephants never forget.
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 56 sec read
- 110 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | ababbcbC ababbcbC ababbcbC bcbC |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 970 |
Words | 179 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 4 |
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"Ballade of Unfortunate Mammals" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 18 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/8126/ballade-of-unfortunate-mammals>.
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