The Gentlest Lady
They say He was a serious child,And quiet in his ways;They say the gentlest lady smiledTo hear the neighbors’ praise.
The coffers of her heart would closeUpon their smallest word.Yet did they say, “How tall He grows!”They thought she had not heard.
They say upon His birthday eveShe’d rock Him to His restAs if she could not have Him leaveThe shelter of her breast.
The poor must go in bitter thrift,The poor must give in pain,But ever did she set a giftTo greet His day again.
They say she’d kiss the boy awake,And hail Him gay and clear,But oh, her heart was like to breakTo count another year.
About this text
The Gentlest Lady 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, The Gentlest Lady, in Sunset Gun (1928), text of English Wikisource, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/parker-sunset-gun/the-gentlest-lady.html, id L27439.
Form and metre
The Gentlest Lady is 20 lines in 5 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABAB. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%).
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 childA · waysB · smiledA · praiseB
- 2 ABAB closeA · wordB · growsA · heardB
- 3 ABAB eveA · restB · leaveA · breastB
- 4 ABAB thriftA · painB · giftA · againB
- 5 ABAB awakeA · clearB · breakA · yearB
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 say He was a serious child, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And quiet in his ways; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| They say the gentlest lady smiled | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| To hear the neighbors’ praise. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| The coffers of her heart would close | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Upon their smallest word. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Yet did they say, “How tall He grows!” | 8 | ········ |
| They thought she had not heard. | 6 | ······ |
| They say upon His birthday eve | 8 | ·····/·· |
| She’d rock Him to His rest | 6 | ······ |
| As if she could not have Him leave | 8 | ········ |
| The shelter of her breast. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| The poor must go in bitter thrift, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The poor must give in pain, | 6 | ······ |
| But ever did she set a gift | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| To greet His day again. | 6 | ····˘/ |
| They say she’d kiss the boy awake, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| And hail Him gay and clear, | 6 | ······ |
| But oh, her heart was like to break | 8 | ········ |
| To count another year. | 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.