Analysis of I Know I Have Been Happiest
Dorothy Parker 1893 (Long Branch) – 1967 (New York City)
I know I have been happiest at your side;
But what is done, is done, and all's to be.
And small the good, to linger dolefully-
Gayly it lived, and gallantly it died.
I will not make you songs of hearts denied,
And you, being man, would have no tears of me,
And should I offer you fidelity,
You'd be, I think, a little terrified.
Yet this the need of woman, this her curse:
To range her little gifts, and give, and give,
Because the throb of giving's sweet to bear.
To you, who never begged me vows or verse,
My gift shall be my absence, while I live;
But after that, my dear, I cannot swear.
Scheme | ABXAABBA CXDCXD |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11111100111 1111110111 01011101 111010011 1111111101 01101111111 0111010100 111101010 1101110101 1101010101 010111111 1111011111 1111110111 1101111101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 586 |
Words | 119 |
Sentences | 6 |
Stanzas | 2 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 6 |
Lines Amount | 14 |
Letters per line (avg) | 32 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 222 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 59 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 29, 2023
- 36 sec read
- 172 Views
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"I Know I Have Been Happiest" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 18 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/8167/i-know-i-have-been-happiest>.
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