Now at Liberty
Little white love, your way you've taken;Now I am left alone, alone.Little white love, my heart's forsaken.(Whom shall I get by telephone?)Well do I know there's no returning;Once you go out, it's done, it's done.All of my days are gray with yearning.(Nevertheless, a girl needs fun.)
Little white love, perplexed and weary,Sadly your banner fluttered down.Sullen the days, and dreary, dreary.(Which of the boys is still in town?)Radiant and sure, you came a-flying;Puzzled, you left on lagging feet.Slow in my breast, my heart is dying.(Nevertheless, a girl must eat.)
Little white love, I hailed you gladly;Now I must wave you out of sight.Ah, but you used me badly, badly.(Who'd like to take me out to-night?)All of the blundering words I've spoken,Little white love, forgive, forgive.Once you went out, my heart fell, broken.(Nevertheless, a girl must live.)
Words in this poem
- 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,]
- needs adv.
- Of necessity; necessarily; indispensably; -- often with must, and equivalent to of need. [Orig. gen. of need, used as an adverb. Cf. - wards.]
- sadly adv.
- Wearily; heavily; firmly.
- sullen a.
- Lonely; solitary; desolate. Wyclif (Job iii. 14). [OE. solein, solain, lonely, sullen; through Old French fr. (assumed) LL. solanus solitary, fr. L. solus alone. See Sole, a.]
- dreary a.
- Sorrowful; distressful. [OE. dreori, dreri, AS. dreórig, sad; akin to G. traurig, and prob. to AS. dreósan to fall, Goth. driusan. Cf. Dross, Drear, Drizzle, Drowse.]
- lagging n.
- The clothing (esp., an outer, wooden covering), as of a steam cylinder, applied to prevent the radiation of heat; a covering of lags; -- called also deading and cleading.
- gladly adv.
- Preferably; by choice. [From Glad, a.]
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Now at Liberty 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, Now at Liberty, in Enough Rope (1926), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #68353, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/parker-enough-rope/now-at-liberty.html, id L27355.
Form and metre
Now at Liberty is 24 lines in 3 stanzas of 8 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABABCDCD. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%).
See other poems in iambic 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 takenA · aloneB · forsakenA · telephoneB · returningC · doneD · yearningC · funD
- 2 ABABCDCD wearyA · downB · drearyA · townB · flyingC · feetD · dyingC · eatD
- 3 ABABCDCD gladlyA · sightB · badlyA · nightB · spokenC · forgiveD · brokenC · liveD
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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Little white love, your way you've taken; | 9 | /˘·····/˘ |
| Now I am left alone, alone. | 8 | ····˘/˘/ |
| Little white love, my heart's forsaken. | 9 | /˘····˘/˘ |
| (Whom shall I get by telephone?) | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Well do I know there's no returning; | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
| Once you go out, it's done, it's done. | 8 | ········ |
| All of my days are gray with yearning. | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| (Nevertheless, a girl needs fun.) | 8 | ·˘˘/···· |
| Little white love, perplexed and weary, | 9 | /˘··˘/·/˘ |
| Sadly your banner fluttered down. | 8 | /˘·/˘/˘· |
| Sullen the days, and dreary, dreary. | 9 | /˘···/˘/˘ |
| (Which of the boys is still in town?) | 8 | ········ |
| Radiant and sure, you came a-flying; | 9 | /˘·····/˘ |
| Puzzled, you left on lagging feet. | 8 | /˘···/˘· |
| Slow in my breast, my heart is dying. | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| (Nevertheless, a girl must eat.) | 8 | ·˘˘/···· |
| Little white love, I hailed you gladly; | 9 | /˘·····/˘ |
| Now I must wave you out of sight. | 8 | ········ |
| Ah, but you used me badly, badly. | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| (Who'd like to take me out to-night?) | 8 | ········ |
| All of the blundering words I've spoken, | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| Little white love, forgive, forgive. | 8 | /˘··˘/˘/ |
| Once you went out, my heart fell, broken. | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| (Nevertheless, a girl must live.) | 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.