I Know I Have Been Happiest
I know I have been happiest at your side;But what is done, is done, and all's to be.And small the good, to linger dolefully,--Gaily it lived, and gallantly it died.I will not make you songs of hearts denied,And you, being man, would have no tears of me,And should I offer you fidelity,You'd be, I think, a little terrified.
Yet this the need of woman, this her curse:To range her little gifts, and give, and give,Because the throb of giving's sweet to bear.To you, who never begged me vows or verse,My gift shall be my absence, while I live;But after that, my dear, I cannot swear.
Words in this poem
- gaily adv.
- Merrily; showily. See gaily. [From Gay.]
- gallantly adv.
- In a polite or courtly manner; like a gallant or wooer.
- throb v. i.
- To beat, or pulsate, with more than usual force or rapidity; to beat in consequence of agitation; to palpitate; -- said of the heart, pulse, etc. [OE. ; of uncertain origin; cf. Russ. trepete a trembling, and E. trepidation.]
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
I Know I Have Been Happiest 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, I Know I Have Been Happiest, in Enough Rope (1926), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #68353, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/parker-enough-rope/i-know-i-have-been-happiest.html, id L27344.
Form and metre
I Know I Have Been Happiest is 14 lines in 2 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%).
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 AB-AAB-A sideA · beB · dolefully · diedA · deniedA · meB · fidelity · terrifiedA
- 2 ABCABC curseA · giveB · bearC · verseA · liveB · swearC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| I know I have been happiest at your side; | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| But what is done, is done, and all's to be. | 10 | ·········· |
| And small the good, to linger dolefully,-- | 11 | ·····/˘···· |
| Gaily it lived, and gallantly it died. | 10 | /˘···/˘˘·· |
| I will not make you songs of hearts denied, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| And you, being man, would have no tears of me, | 10 | ··/······· |
| And should I offer you fidelity, | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘˘ |
| You'd be, I think, a little terrified. | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Yet this the need of woman, this her curse: | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| To range her little gifts, and give, and give, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Because the throb of giving's sweet to bear. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| To you, who never begged me vows or verse, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| My gift shall be my absence, while I live; | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| But after that, my dear, I cannot swear. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
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.