The Homebody

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



There still are kindly things for me to know,
Who am afraid to dream, afraid to feel-
This little chair of scrubbed and sturdy deal,
This easy book, this fire, sedate and slow.
And I shall stay with them, nor cry the woe
Of wounds across my breast that do not heal;
Nor wish that Beauty drew a duller steel,
Since I am sworn to meet her as a foe.

It may be, when the devil's own time is done,
That I shall hear the dropping of the rain
At midnight, and lie quiet in my bed;
Or stretch and straighten to the yellow sun;
Or face the turning tree, and have no pain;
So shall I learn at last my heart is dead.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

38 sec read
64

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABBAABBA CDECDE
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 600
Words 126
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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