Analysis of Somebody's Song

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



This is what I vow;
He shall have my heart to keep,
Sweetly will we stir and sleep,
    All the years, as now.
Swift the measured sands may run;
Love like this is never done;
He and I are welded one:
    This is what I vow.

This is what I pray:
Keep him by me tenderly;
Keep him sweet in pride of me,
    Ever and a day;
Keep me from the old distress;
Let me, for our happiness,
Be the one to love the less:
    This is what I pray.

This is what I know:
Lovers' oaths are thin as rain;
Love's a harbinger of pain-
    Would it were not so!
Ever is my heart a-thirst,
Ever is my love accurst;
He is neither last nor first:
    This is what I know.


Scheme AbbacccA DeedfxfD GhhgiiiG
Poetic Form
Metre 11111 1111111 1011101 10111 1010111 1111101 1011101 11111 11111 1111100 1110111 10001 1110101 11110100 1011101 11111 11111 1011111 1010011 11011 1011101 101111 1110111 11111
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 639
Words 134
Sentences 6
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 8, 8, 8
Lines Amount 24
Letters per line (avg) 19
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 154
Words per stanza (avg) 44
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 07, 2023

40 sec read
153

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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