Topic 38 of 52: Dorothy Parker
Mon, Oct 11, 1999 (09:41) |
Wolf (wolf)
4 responses total.
Topic 38 of 52 [poetry]: Dorothy Parker
Response 1 of 4: John Burnett (mrchips) * Mon, Oct 11, 1999 (12:02) * 16 lines
THE SEARCHED SOUL
When I consider, pro and con,
What things my love is built upon-
A curly mouth; a sinewed wrist;
A questioning brow; a pretty twist
Of words as old and tried as sin;
A pointed ear; a cloven chin;
Long, tapered limbs; and slanted eyes
Not cold nor kind nor darkly wise-
When so I ponder, here apart,
What shallow boons suffice my heart,
What dust-bound trivia capture me,
I marvel at my normalcy.
--Dorothy Parker (1893-1967)
Topic 38 of 52 [poetry]: Dorothy Parker
Response 2 of 4: Wolf (wolf) * Mon, Oct 11, 1999 (12:55) * 1 lines
i can relate, ms dorothy! thanks, john!!
Topic 38 of 52 [poetry]: Dorothy Parker
Response 3 of 4: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Oct 11, 1999 (13:52) * 39 lines
Ballade of Unfortunate Mammals
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.
Topic 38 of 52 [poetry]: Dorothy Parker
Response 4 of 4: Marcia (MarciaH) * Mon, Oct 11, 1999 (14:28) * 34 lines
Guinevere at Her Fireside
A nobler king had never breath-
I say it now, and said it then.
Who weds with such is wed till death
And wedded stays in Heaven. Amen.
(And oh, the shirts of linen-lawn,
And all the armor, tagged and tied,
And church on Sundays, dusk and dawn.
And bed a thing to kneel beside!)
The bravest one stood tall above
The rest, and watched me as a light.
I heard and heard them talk of love;
I'd naught to do but think, at night.
The bravest man has littlest brains;
That chalky fool from Astolat
With all her dying and her pains!-
Thank God, I helped him over that.
I found him not unfair to see-
I like a man with peppered hair!
And thus it came about. Ah, me,
Tristram was busied otherwhere....
A nobler king had never breath-
I say it now, and said it then.
Who weds with such is wed till death
And wedded stays in Heaven. Amen.
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