Nocturne
Always I knew that it could not last(Gathering clouds, and the snowflakes flying),Now it is part of the golden past;(Darkening skies, and the night-wind sighing)It is but cowardice to pretend.Cover with ashes our love's cold crater,--Always I've known that it had to endSooner or later.
Always I knew it would come like this(Pattering rain, and the grasses springing),Sweeter to you is a new love's kiss(Flickering sunshine, and young birds singing).Gone are the raptures that once we knew,Now you are finding a new joy greater,--Well, I'll be doing the same thing, too,Sooner or later.
Words in this poem
- crater n.
- The basinlike opening or mouth of a volcano, through which the chief eruption comes; similarly, the mouth of a gevser, about which a cone of silica is often built up. [L. crater, cratera, a mixing vessel, the mouth of a volcano, Gr. ir to cook, Crail, in Holy Grail.]
- sunshine n.
- The light of the sun, or the place where it shines; the direct rays of the sun, the place where they fall, or the warmth and light which they give.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Nocturne 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, Nocturne, in Enough Rope (1926), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #68353, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/parker-enough-rope/nocturne.html, id L27401.
Form and metre
Nocturne is 16 lines in 2 stanzas of 8 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABABCDCD.
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 lastA · flyingB · pastA · sighingB · pretendC · craterD · endC · laterD
- 2 ABABCDCD thisA · springingB · kissA · singingB · knewC · greaterD · tooC · laterD
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. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Always I knew that it could not last | 9 | /········ |
| (Gathering clouds, and the snowflakes flying), | 9 | /˘···/·/˘ |
| Now it is part of the golden past; | 9 | ······/˘· |
| (Darkening skies, and the night-wind sighing) | 9 | /˘·····/˘ |
| It is but cowardice to pretend. | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Cover with ashes our love's cold crater,-- | 10 | /˘·/˘/··/˘ |
| Always I've known that it had to end | 9 | /········ |
| Sooner or later. | 5 | /˘·/˘ |
| Always I knew it would come like this | 9 | /········ |
| (Pattering rain, and the grasses springing), | 9 | /˘···/˘/˘ |
| Sweeter to you is a new love's kiss | 9 | /˘······· |
| (Flickering sunshine, and young birds singing). | 9 | /˘/····/˘ |
| Gone are the raptures that once we knew, | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| Now you are finding a new joy greater,-- | 10 | ···/˘···/˘ |
| Well, I'll be doing the same thing, too, | 8 | ···/···· |
| Sooner or later. | 5 | /˘·/˘ |
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.