Liebestod
When I was bold, when I was bold—And that’s a hundred years!—Oh, never I thought my breast could holdThe terrible weight of tears.
I said: “Now some be dolorous;I hear them wail and sigh,And if it be Love that play them thus,Then never a love will I.”
I said: “I see them rack and rue,I see them wring and ache,And little I’ll crack my heart in twoWith little the heart can break.”
When I was gay, when I was gay—It’s ninety years and nine!—Oh, never I thought that Death could layHis terrible hand in mine.
I said: “He plies his trade amongThe musty and infirm,A body so hard and bright and youngCould never be meat for worm.”
“I see him dull their eyes,” I said,“And still their rattling breath.And how under God could I be deadThat never was meant for Death?”
But Love came by, to quench my sleep,And here’s my sundered heart;And bitter’s my woe, and black, and deep,And little I guessed a part.
Yet this there is to cool my breast,And this to ease my spell;Now if I were Love’s, like all the rest,Then can I be Death’s, as well.
And he shall have me, sworn and bound,And I’ll be done with Love.And better I’ll be below the groundThan ever I’ll be above.
Words in this poem
- dolorous a.
- Full of grief; sad; sorrowful; doleful; dismal; as, a dolorous object; dolorous discourses. [L. dolorosus, from dolor: cf. F. douloureux. See Dolor.]
- ache n.
- A name given to several species of plants; as, smallage, wild celery, parsley. Holland. [F. ache, L. apium parsley.]
- 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
Liebestod is in the public domain. This text is taken from Sunset Gun: Poems (Boni & Liveright, 1928), English Wikisource; 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, Liebestod, in Sunset Gun (1928), text of English Wikisource, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/parker-sunset-gun/liebestod.html, id L27460.
Form and metre
Liebestod is 36 lines in 9 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABAB. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%).
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 boldA · yearsB · holdA · tearsB
- 2 ABAB dolorousA · sighB · thusA · iB
- 3 ABAB rueA · acheB · twoA · breakB
- 4 ABAB gayA · nineB · layA · mineB
- 5 ABAB amongA · infirmB · youngA · wormB
- 6 ABAB saidA · breathB · deadA · deathB
- 7 ABAB sleepA · heartB · deepA · partB
- 8 ABAB breastA · spellB · restA · wellB
- 9 ABAB boundA · loveB · groundA · aboveB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| When I was bold, when I was bold— | 8 | ········ |
| And that’s a hundred years!— | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Oh, never I thought my breast could hold | 8 | ·/······ |
| The terrible weight of tears. | 7 | ·/˘˘··· |
| I said: “Now some be dolorous; | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| I hear them wail and sigh, | 6 | ······ |
| And if it be Love that play them thus, | 9 | ········· |
| Then never a love will I.” | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| I said: “I see them rack and rue, | 8 | ········ |
| I see them wring and ache, | 6 | ······ |
| And little I’ll crack my heart in two | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| With little the heart can break.” | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| When I was gay, when I was gay— | 8 | ········ |
| It’s ninety years and nine!— | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Oh, never I thought that Death could lay | 8 | ·/······ |
| His terrible hand in mine. | 7 | ·/˘˘··· |
| I said: “He plies his trade among | 8 | ········ |
| The musty and infirm, | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| A body so hard and bright and young | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| Could never be meat for worm.” | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| “I see him dull their eyes,” I said, | 8 | ········ |
| “And still their rattling breath. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And how under God could I be dead | 9 | ········· |
| That never was meant for Death?” | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| But Love came by, to quench my sleep, | 8 | ········ |
| And here’s my sundered heart; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And bitter’s my woe, and black, and deep, | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| And little I guessed a part. | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| Yet this there is to cool my breast, | 8 | ········ |
| And this to ease my spell; | 6 | ······ |
| Now if I were Love’s, like all the rest, | 9 | ········· |
| Then can I be Death’s, as well. | 7 | ······· |
| And he shall have me, sworn and bound, | 8 | ········ |
| And I’ll be done with Love. | 6 | ······ |
| And better I’ll be below the ground | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| Than ever I’ll be above. | 7 | ·/˘···· |
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.