The False Friends
They laid their hands upon my head,They stroked my cheek and brow;And time could heal a hurt, they said,And time could dim a vow.
And they were pitiful and mildWho whispered to me then,"The heart that breaks in April, child,Will mend in May again."
Oh, many a mended heart they knew,So old they were, and wise.And little did they have to doTo come to me with lies!
Who flings me silly talk of MayShall meet a bitter soul;For June was nearly spent awayBefore my heart was whole.
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,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The False Friends 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, The False Friends, in Enough Rope (1926), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #68353, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/parker-enough-rope/the-false-friends.html, id L27319.
Form and metre
The False Friends is 16 lines in 4 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABAB. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 94%).
See other poems in common measure.
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 headA · browB · saidA · vowB
- 2 ABAB mildA · thenB · childA · againB
- 3 ABAB knewA · wiseB · doA · liesB
- 4 ABAB mayA · soulB · awayA · wholeB
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 common measure. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| They laid their hands upon my head, | 8 | ········ |
| They stroked my cheek and brow; | 6 | ······ |
| And time could heal a hurt, they said, | 8 | ········ |
| And time could dim a vow. | 6 | ······ |
| And they were pitiful and mild | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| Who whispered to me then, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| "The heart that breaks in April, child, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Will mend in May again." | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Oh, many a mended heart they knew, | 8 | ·/·/˘··· |
| So old they were, and wise. | 6 | ······ |
| And little did they have to do | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| To come to me with lies! | 6 | ······ |
| Who flings me silly talk of May | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Shall meet a bitter soul; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| For June was nearly spent away | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Before my heart was whole. | 6 | ······ |
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.