Analysis of Salome's Dancing-Lesson
Dorothy Parker 1893 (Long Branch) – 1967 (New York City)
She that begs a little boon
(Heel and toe! Heel and toe!)
Little gets- and nothing, soon.
(No, no, no! No, no, no!)
She that calls for costly things
Priceless finds her offerings-
What's impossible to kings?
(Heel and toe! Heel and toe!)
Kings are shaped as other men.
(Step and turn! Step and turn!)
Ask what none may ask again.
(Will you learn? Will you learn?)
Lovers whine, and kisses pall,
Jewels tarnish, kingdoms fall-
Death's the rarest prize of all!
(Step and turn! Step and turn!)
Veils are woven to be dropped.
(One, two, three! One, two, three!)
Aging eyes are slowest stopped.
(Quietly! Quietly!)
She whose body's young and cool
Has no need of dancing-school-
Scratch a king and find a fool!
(One, two, three! One, two, three!)
Scheme | aBabcccB dEdexffE gHghiiiH |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1110101 101101 1010101 111111 1111101 1010100 1010011 101101 1111101 101101 1111101 111111 1010101 1010101 1010111 101101 1110111 111111 1011101 100100 1110101 1111101 1010101 111111 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 725 |
Words | 142 |
Sentences | 27 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 24 |
Letters per line (avg) | 23 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 181 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 44 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 43 sec read
- 128 Views
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"Salome's Dancing-Lesson" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 10 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/8224/salome%27s-dancing-lesson>.
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