Orbler
Byron Twain
Brenton
Dexter
Jeanne Dininni
Shilpa KarhikDorothy Parker
May 11th 2006 11:00
Dorothy Parker was an American writer and poet who lived in early 20th-century New York. I just discovered this poet today and I had trouble choosing just one of her poems. So, since they're short, I've chosen several. They range from flippant humour and witty observations on the circles she moved in (she wrote for Vanity Fair and Vogue magazine) to darker, more serious material about her affairs and unsuccessful relationships. The first is an expression I've often heard and I'm sure everyone else has too, but I never realised it was a poem:
NEWS ITEM
Men seldom make passes
At girls who wear glasses.
Other poems were about her social life and her lack of concern for "propriety" and the opinions of others.
INTERVIEW
The ladies men admire, I've heard,
Would shudder at a wicked word.
Their candle gives a single light;
They'd rather stay at home at night.
They do not keep awake till three,
Nor read erotic poetry.
They never sanction the impure,
Nor recognize an overture.
They shrink from powders and from paints...
So far, I've had no complaints.
OBSERVATION
If I don't drive around the park,
I'm pretty sure to make my mark.
If I'm in bed each night by ten,
I may get back my looks again,
If I abstain from fun and such,
I'll probably amount to much,
But I shall stay the way I am,
Because I do not give a damn.
Occasionally she wasn't content just to mock the people around her, and became more venomous:
FRUSTRATION
If I had a shiny gun,
I could have a world of fun
Speeding bullets through the brains
Of the folk who give me pains;
Or had I some poison gas,
I could make the moments pass
Bumping off a number of
People whom I do not love.
But I have no lethal weapon -
Thus does fate our pleasure step on!
So they still are quick and well
Who should be, by rights in hell.
Sometimes these frustrations were directed towards herself. She made several suicide attempts over a period of nine years and a few of her poems are about this.
RESUMÉ
Razors pain you;
Rivers are damp;
Acids stain you;
And drugs cause cramp.
Guns aren't lawful;
Nooses give;
Gas smells awful;
You might as well live.
CHERRY WHITE
I never see the prettiest thing -
A cherry bough gone white with Spring -
But what I think, "How gay 'twould be
To hang me from a flowering tree."
The face Dorothy Parker presented to the world through her poetry was always changing, veering from contentment and a mocking sense of superiority over others to dissatisfaction with herself or despair over a lost love. She is probably best summed up in her own words:
A CERTAIN LADY
Oh, I can smile for you, and tilt my head,
And drink your rushing words with eager lips,
And paint my mouth for you a fragrant red,
And trace your brows with tutored finger-tips.
When you rehearse your list of loves to me,
Oh, I can laugh and marvel, rapturous-eyed.
And you laugh back, nor can you ever see
The thousand little deaths my heart has died.
And you believe, so well I know my part,
That I am gay as morning, light as snow,
And all the straining things within my heart
You'll never know.
Oh, I can laugh and listen, when we meet,
And you bring tales of fresh adventurings, -
Of ladies delicately indiscreet,
Of lingering hands, and gently whispered things.
And you are pleased with me, and strive anew
To sing me sagas of your late delights.
Thus do you want me - marveling, gay, and true,
Nor do you see my staring eyes of nights.
And when, in search of novelty, you stray,
Oh, I can kiss you blithely as you go...
And what goes on, my love, while you're away,
You'll never know.
NEWS ITEM
Men seldom make passes
At girls who wear glasses.
Other poems were about her social life and her lack of concern for "propriety" and the opinions of others.
INTERVIEW
The ladies men admire, I've heard,
Would shudder at a wicked word.
Their candle gives a single light;
They'd rather stay at home at night.
They do not keep awake till three,
Nor read erotic poetry.
They never sanction the impure,
Nor recognize an overture.
They shrink from powders and from paints...
So far, I've had no complaints.
OBSERVATION
If I don't drive around the park,
I'm pretty sure to make my mark.
If I'm in bed each night by ten,
I may get back my looks again,
If I abstain from fun and such,
I'll probably amount to much,
But I shall stay the way I am,
Because I do not give a damn.
Occasionally she wasn't content just to mock the people around her, and became more venomous:
FRUSTRATION
If I had a shiny gun,
I could have a world of fun
Speeding bullets through the brains
Of the folk who give me pains;
Or had I some poison gas,
I could make the moments pass
Bumping off a number of
People whom I do not love.
But I have no lethal weapon -
Thus does fate our pleasure step on!
So they still are quick and well
Who should be, by rights in hell.
Sometimes these frustrations were directed towards herself. She made several suicide attempts over a period of nine years and a few of her poems are about this.
RESUMÉ
Razors pain you;
Rivers are damp;
Acids stain you;
And drugs cause cramp.
Guns aren't lawful;
Nooses give;
Gas smells awful;
You might as well live.
CHERRY WHITE
I never see the prettiest thing -
A cherry bough gone white with Spring -
But what I think, "How gay 'twould be
To hang me from a flowering tree."
The face Dorothy Parker presented to the world through her poetry was always changing, veering from contentment and a mocking sense of superiority over others to dissatisfaction with herself or despair over a lost love. She is probably best summed up in her own words:
A CERTAIN LADY
Oh, I can smile for you, and tilt my head,
And drink your rushing words with eager lips,
And paint my mouth for you a fragrant red,
And trace your brows with tutored finger-tips.
When you rehearse your list of loves to me,
Oh, I can laugh and marvel, rapturous-eyed.
And you laugh back, nor can you ever see
The thousand little deaths my heart has died.
And you believe, so well I know my part,
That I am gay as morning, light as snow,
And all the straining things within my heart
You'll never know.
Oh, I can laugh and listen, when we meet,
And you bring tales of fresh adventurings, -
Of ladies delicately indiscreet,
Of lingering hands, and gently whispered things.
And you are pleased with me, and strive anew
To sing me sagas of your late delights.
Thus do you want me - marveling, gay, and true,
Nor do you see my staring eyes of nights.
And when, in search of novelty, you stray,
Oh, I can kiss you blithely as you go...
And what goes on, my love, while you're away,
You'll never know.
Dorothy Parker (1893 - 1967)
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