Analysis of Prayer For A Prayer

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



Dearest one, when I am dead
  Never seek to follow me.
    Never mount the quiet hill
    Where the copper leaves are still,
  As my heart is, on the tree
Standing at my narrow bed.

Only of your tenderness,
  Pray a little prayer at night.
    Say: "I have forgiven now-
    I, so weak and sad; O Thou,
  Wreathed in thunder, robed in light,
Surely Thou wilt do no less."


Scheme ABCCBA XDEEDX
Poetic Form
Metre 1011111 1011101 1010101 1010111 1111101 1011101 1011100 1010111 1110101 1110111 1010101 1011111
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 368
Words 71
Sentences 5
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 6, 6
Lines Amount 12
Letters per line (avg) 22
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 132
Words per stanza (avg) 34
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on May 03, 2023

21 sec read
514

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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    Poet George McDonald wrote a two-word poem that reads _____ _____?
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    C Good Bye.
    D Come Home.