A Certain Lady
Oh, I can smile for you, and tilt my head,And drink your rushing words with eager lips,And paint my mouth for you a fragrant red,And trace your brows with tutored finger-tips.When you rehearse your list of loves to me,Oh, I can laugh and marvel, rapturous-eyed.And you laugh back, nor can you ever seeThe thousand little deaths my heart has died.And you believe, so well I know my part,That I am gay as morning, light as snow,And all the straining things within my heartYou'll never know.
Oh, I can laugh and listen, when we meet,And you bring tales of fresh adventurings,--Of ladies delicately indiscreet,Of lingering hands, and gently whispered things.And you are pleased with me, and strive anewTo sing me sagas of your late delights.Thus do you want me--marveling, gay, and true,Nor do you see my staring eyes of nights.And when, in search of novelty, you stray,Oh, I can kiss you blithely as you go....And what goes on, my love, while you're away,You'll never know.
Words in this poem
- blithely adv.
- In a blithe manner.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Certain Lady is in the public domain. This text is taken from Enough Rope: Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #68353; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Dorothy Parker, A Certain Lady, in Enough Rope (1926), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #68353, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/parker-enough-rope/a-certain-lady.html, id L27389.
Form and metre
A Certain Lady is 24 lines in 2 stanzas of 12 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABABCDCDEFEF. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%).
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 ABABCDCDEFEF headA · lipsB · redA · tipsB · meC · eyedD · seeC · diedD · partE · snowF · heartE · knowF
- 2 ABABCDCDEFEF meetA · adventuringsB · indiscreetA · thingsB · anewC · delightsD · trueC · nightsD · strayE · goF · awayE · knowF
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Oh, I can smile for you, and tilt my head, | 10 | ·········· |
| And drink your rushing words with eager lips, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| And paint my mouth for you a fragrant red, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| And trace your brows with tutored finger-tips. | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| When you rehearse your list of loves to me, | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| Oh, I can laugh and marvel, rapturous-eyed. | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| And you laugh back, nor can you ever see | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| The thousand little deaths my heart has died. | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| And you believe, so well I know my part, | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| That I am gay as morning, light as snow, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| And all the straining things within my heart | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| You'll never know. | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Oh, I can laugh and listen, when we meet, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| And you bring tales of fresh adventurings,-- | 10 | ·········· |
| Of ladies delicately indiscreet, | 10 | ·/˘/˘˘˘˘˘/ |
| Of lingering hands, and gently whispered things. | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘· |
| And you are pleased with me, and strive anew | 10 | ········˘/ |
| To sing me sagas of your late delights. | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| Thus do you want me--marveling, gay, and true, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Nor do you see my staring eyes of nights. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| And when, in search of novelty, you stray, | 10 | ·····/˘˘·· |
| Oh, I can kiss you blithely as you go.... | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| And what goes on, my love, while you're away, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| You'll never know. | 4 | ·/˘· |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.