Threnody
Lilacs blossom just as sweetNow my heart is shattered.If I bowled it down the street,Who's to say it mattered?If there's one that rode awayWhat would I be missing?Lips that taste of tears, they say,Are the best for kissing.
Eyes that watch the morning starSeem a little brighter;Arms held out to darkness areUsually whiter.Shall I bar the strolling guest,Bind my brow with willow,When, they say, the empty breastIs the softer pillow?
That a heart falls tinkling down,Never think it ceases.Every likely lad in townGathers up the pieces.If there's one gone whistling byWould I let it grieve me?Let him wonder if I lie;Let him half believe me.
Words in this poem
- rode n.
- Redness; complexion. [See Rud.]
- 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
Threnody 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, Threnody, in Enough Rope (1926), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #68353, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/parker-enough-rope/threnody.html, id L27317.
Form and metre
Threnody is 24 lines in 3 stanzas of 8 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABABCDCD. The metre is trochaic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%).
See other poems in trochaic trimeter.
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 sweetA · shatteredB · streetA · matteredB · awayC · missingD · sayC · kissingD
- 2 ABABCDCD starA · brighterB · areA · whiterB · guestC · willowD · breastC · pillowD
- 3 ABABCDCD downA · ceasesB · townA · piecesB · byC · meD · lieC · meD
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 trochaic trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Lilacs blossom just as sweet | 7 | /·/˘··· |
| Now my heart is shattered. | 6 | ····/˘ |
| If I bowled it down the street, | 7 | ······· |
| Who's to say it mattered? | 6 | ····/˘ |
| If there's one that rode away | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| What would I be missing? | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Lips that taste of tears, they say, | 7 | ······· |
| Are the best for kissing. | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Eyes that watch the morning star | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Seem a little brighter; | 6 | ··/˘/˘ |
| Arms held out to darkness are | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Usually whiter. | 6 | /˘˘˘/˘ |
| Shall I bar the strolling guest, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Bind my brow with willow, | 6 | ····/· |
| When, they say, the empty breast | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Is the softer pillow? | 6 | ··/˘/˘ |
| That a heart falls tinkling down, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Never think it ceases. | 6 | /˘··/˘ |
| Every likely lad in town | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| Gathers up the pieces. | 6 | /˘··/˘ |
| If there's one gone whistling by | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Would I let it grieve me? | 6 | ······ |
| Let him wonder if I lie; | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Let him half believe me. | 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.