Analysis of Tombstones in the Starlight
Dorothy Parker 1893 (Long Branch) – 1967 (New York City)
I. The Minor Poet
His little trills and chirpings were his best.
No music like the nightingale's was born
Within his throat; but he, too, laid his breast
Upon a thorn.
II. The Pretty Lady
She hated bleak and wintry things alone.
All that was warm and quick, she loved too well-
A light, a flame, a heart against her own;
It is forever bitter cold, in Hell.
III. The Very Rich Man
He'd have the best, and that was none too good;
No barrier could hold, before his terms.
He lies below, correct in cypress wood,
And entertains the most exclusive worms.
IV. The Fisherwoman
The man she had was kind and clean
And well enough for every day,
But, oh, dear friends, you should have seen
The one that got away!
V. The Crusader
Arrived in Heaven, when his sands were run,
He seized a quill, and sat him down to tell
The local press that something should be done
About that noisy nuisance, Gabriel.
VI. The Actress
Her name, cut clear upon this marble cross,
Shines, as it shone when she was still on earth;
While tenderly the mild, agreeable moss
Obscures the figures of her date of birth.
Scheme | X ABAB X CDCD X EFEF B GHGH X IDIX X JKJK |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Etheree (23%) |
Metre | 101010 110101011 11010111 0111111111 0101 101010 1101010101 1111011111 0101010101 1101010101 101011 1101011111 1100110111 1101010101 001010101 101 01111101 010111001 11111111 011101 10010 0101011101 1101011111 0101110111 0111010100 1010 0111011101 1111111111 11000101001 0101010111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,059 |
Words | 204 |
Sentences | 16 |
Stanzas | 12 |
Stanza Lengths | 1, 4, 1, 4, 1, 4, 1, 4, 1, 4, 1, 4 |
Lines Amount | 30 |
Letters per line (avg) | 28 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 70 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 17 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 28, 2023
- 1:01 min read
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