Analysis of Little Words

Dorothy Parker 1893 (Long Branch) – 1967 (New York City)



When you are gone, there is nor bloom nor leaf,
Nor singing sea at night, nor silver birds;
And I can only stare, and shape my grief
In little words.

I cannot conjure loveliness, to drown
The bitter woe that racks my cords apart.
The weary pen that sets my sorrow down
Feeds at my heart.

There is no mercy in the shifting year,
No beauty wraps me tenderly about.
I turn to little words- so you, my dear,
Can spell them out.


Scheme ABAB CDCD EFEF
Poetic Form Traditional rhyme
Quatrain 
Metre 1111111111 1101111101 0111010111 0101 11010111 0101111101 0101111101 1111 1111000101 1101110001 1111011111 1111
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 420
Words 85
Sentences 6
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4
Lines Amount 12
Letters per line (avg) 27
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 109
Words per stanza (avg) 28
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 14, 2023

25 sec read
471

Dorothy Parker

Dorothy Parker was an American poet, short story writer, critic and satirist, best known for her wit, wisecracks, and eye for 20th-century urban foibles. more…

All Dorothy Parker poems | Dorothy Parker Books

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