A Well-Worn Story
In April, in April,My one love came along,And I ran the slope of my high hillTo follow a thread of song.
His eyes were hard as porphyryWith looking on cruel lands;His voice went slipping over meLike terrible silver hands.
Together we trod the secret laneAnd walked the muttering town.I wore my heart like a wet, red stainOn the breast of a velvet gown.
In April, in April,My love went whistling by,And I stumbled here to my high hillAlong the way of a lie.
Now what should I do in this placeBut sit and count the chimes,And splash cold water on my faceAnd spoil a page with rhymes?
Words in this poem
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Well-Worn Story 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 Well-Worn Story, in Enough Rope (1926), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #68353, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/parker-enough-rope/a-well-worn-story.html, id L27322.
Form and metre
A Well-Worn Story is 20 lines in 5 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABAB. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 82%).
See other poems in common measure.
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 ABAB aprilA · alongB · hillA · songB
- 2 ABAB porphyryA · landsB · meA · handsB
- 3 ABAB laneA · townB · stainA · gownB
- 4 ABAB aprilA · byB · hillA · lieB
- 5 ABAB placeA · chimesB · faceA · rhymesB
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 common measure. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| In April, in April, | 6 | ·/˘·/˘ |
| My one love came along, | 6 | ····˘/ |
| And I ran the slope of my high hill | 9 | ········· |
| To follow a thread of song. | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| His eyes were hard as porphyry | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| With looking on cruel lands; | 7 | ·/˘·/˘· |
| His voice went slipping over me | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Like terrible silver hands. | 7 | ·/˘˘/˘· |
| Together we trod the secret lane | 9 | ˘/˘···/˘· |
| And walked the muttering town. | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| I wore my heart like a wet, red stain | 9 | ········· |
| On the breast of a velvet gown. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| In April, in April, | 6 | ·/˘·/˘ |
| My love went whistling by, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And I stumbled here to my high hill | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| Along the way of a lie. | 7 | ˘/····· |
| Now what should I do in this place | 8 | ········ |
| But sit and count the chimes, | 6 | ······ |
| And splash cold water on my face | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And spoil a page with rhymes? | 6 | ······ |
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.