Analysis of Song in a Minor Key

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



There's a place I know where the birds swing low,
And wayward vines go roaming,
Where the lilacs nod, and a marble god
Is pale, in scented gloaming.
And at sunset there comes a lady fair
Whose eyes are deep with yearning.
By an old, old gate does the lady wait
Her own true love's returning.

But the days go by, and the lilacs die,
And trembling birds seek cover;
Yet the lady stands, with her long white hands
Held out to greet her lover.
And it's there she'll stay till the shadowy day
A monument they grave her.
She will always wait by the same old gate, --
The gate her true love gave her.


Scheme XAXAXABA XCXCXCBC
Poetic Form
Metre 1011110111 0101110 101100101 1101010 011110101 1111110 1111110101 0111010 101110011 01001110 1010110111 1111010 01111101001 0100110 111110111 0101110
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 601
Words 118
Sentences 7
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 8, 8
Lines Amount 16
Letters per line (avg) 29
Words per line (avg) 7
Letters per stanza (avg) 228
Words per stanza (avg) 58
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 16, 2023

36 sec read
130

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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