Analysis of Testament

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



Oh, let it be a night of lyric rain
And singing breezes, when my bell is tolled.
I have so loved the rain that I would hold
Last in my ears its friendly, dim refraln.
I shall lie cool and quiet, who have lain
Fevered, and watched the book of day unfold.
Death will not see me flinch; the heart is bold
That pain has made incapable of pain.

Kinder the busy worms than ever love;
It will be peace to lie there, empty-eyed,
My bed made secret by the leveling showers,
My breast replenishing the weeds above.
And you will say of me, "Then has she died?
Perhaps I should have sent a spray of flowers."


Scheme ABBAABBA CDECDE
Poetic Form Petrarchan sonnet 
Metre 1111011101 0101011111 1111011111 101111011 1111010111 1001011101 1111110111 1111010011 1001011101 1111111101 111101010010 1101000101 0111111111 01111101110
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 591
Words 120
Sentences 8
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 8, 6
Lines Amount 14
Letters per line (avg) 33
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 230
Words per stanza (avg) 59
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 07, 2023

35 sec read
80

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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