Finis
Now it's over, and now it's done;Why does everything look the same?Just as bright, the unheeding sun,--Can't it see that the parting came?People hurry and work and swear,Laugh and grumble and die and wed,Ponder what they will eat and wear,--Don't they know that our love is dead?
Just as busy, the crowded street;Cars and wagons go rolling on,Children chuckle, and lovers meet,--Don't they know that our love is gone?No one pauses to pay a tear;None walks slow, for the love that's through,--I might mention, my recent dear,I've reverted to normal, too.
Words in this poem
- grumble v. i.
- To murmur or mutter with discontent; to make ill-natured complaints in a low voice and a surly manner. [Cf. LG. grummeln, grumman, D. grommelen, grommen, and F. grommeler, of German origin; cf. W. grwm, murmur, grumble, surly. sq. root35. Cf. Grum, Grim.]
- chuckle v. t.
- To call, as a hen her chickens; to cluck. [From lst Chuck.]
- reverted a.
- Turned back; reversed. Specifically: (Her.) Bent or curved twice, in opposite directions, or in the form of an S.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Finis 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, Finis, in Enough Rope (1926), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #68353, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/parker-enough-rope/finis.html, id L27381.
Form and metre
Finis is 16 lines in 2 stanzas of 8 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABABCDCD. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 80%).
See other poems in trochaic tetrameter.
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 ABABCDCD doneA · sameB · sunA · cameB · swearC · wedD · wearC · deadD
- 2 ABABCDCD streetA · onB · meetA · goneB · tearC · throughD · dearC · tooD
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 trochaic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Now it's over, and now it's done; | 8 | ········ |
| Why does everything look the same? | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| Just as bright, the unheeding sun,-- | 8 | ········ |
| Can't it see that the parting came? | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| People hurry and work and swear, | 8 | /˘/˘···· |
| Laugh and grumble and die and wed, | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| Ponder what they will eat and wear,-- | 8 | /˘······ |
| Don't they know that our love is dead? | 8 | ····/··· |
| Just as busy, the crowded street; | 8 | ··/˘·/˘· |
| Cars and wagons go rolling on, | 8 | ··/˘·/˘· |
| Children chuckle, and lovers meet,-- | 8 | /˘/˘·/˘· |
| Don't they know that our love is gone? | 8 | ····/··· |
| No one pauses to pay a tear; | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| None walks slow, for the love that's through,-- | 8 | ········ |
| I might mention, my recent dear, | 8 | ··/˘·/˘· |
| I've reverted to normal, too. | 8 | ·˘/˘·/˘· |
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.