One Perfect Rose
A single flow'r he sent me, since we met.All tenderly his messenger he chose;Deep-hearted, pure, with scented dew still wet--One perfect rose.
I knew the language of the floweret;"My fragile leaves," it said, "his heart enclose."Love long has taken for his amuletOne perfect rose.
Why is it no one ever sent me yetOne perfect limousine, do you suppose?Ah no, it's always just my luck to getOne perfect rose.
Words in this poem
- tenderly adv.
- In a tender manner; with tenderness; mildly; gently; softly; in a manner not to injure or give pain; with pity or affection; kindly.
- floweret n.
- A small flower; a floret.
- enclose v. t.
- To inclose. See Inclose. [F. enclos, p. p. of enclore to enclose; pref. en- (L. in) + clore to close. See Close, and cf. Inclose, Include.]
- limousine n.
- An automobile body with seats and permanent top like a coupé, and with the top projecting over the driver and a projecting front; also, an automobile with such a body.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
One Perfect Rose 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, One Perfect Rose, in Enough Rope (1926), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #68353, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/parker-enough-rope/one-perfect-rose.html, id L27372.
Form and metre
One Perfect Rose is 12 lines in 3 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABAB. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 80%).
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 ABAB metA · choseB · wetA · roseB
- 2 ABAB floweretA · encloseB · amuletA · roseB
- 3 ABAB yetA · supposeB · getA · roseB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| A single flow'r he sent me, since we met. | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| All tenderly his messenger he chose; | 10 | ·/˘˘·/˘˘·· |
| Deep-hearted, pure, with scented dew still wet-- | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| One perfect rose. | 4 | ·˘/· |
| I knew the language of the floweret; | 10 | ···/˘··/˘˘ |
| "My fragile leaves," it said, "his heart enclose." | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| Love long has taken for his amulet | 10 | ···/˘··/˘˘ |
| One perfect rose. | 4 | ·˘/· |
| Why is it no one ever sent me yet | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| One perfect limousine, do you suppose? | 10 | ·/·/˘···˘/ |
| Ah no, it's always just my luck to get | 10 | ···/······ |
| One perfect rose. | 4 | ·˘/· |
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.