Laurel · Dorothy Parker · Sunset Gun

There Was One

Dorothy Parker (1893–1967) · 1928

iambic trimeter · ABAB · 40 lines · from Sunset Gun

There was one a-riding grandOn a tall brown mare,And a fine gold bandHe brought me there.

A little, gold bandHe held to meThat would shine on a handFor the world to see.

There was one a-walking swiftTo a little, new song,And a rose was the giftHe carried along.

First of all the posies,Dewy and red.They that have rosesNever need bread.

There was one with a swaggerAnd a soft, slow tongue,And a bright, cold daggerWhere his left hand swung—

Carven and gilt,Old and bad—And his stroking of the hiltSet a girl mad.

There was one a-riding grandAs he rode from me.And he raised his golden bandAnd he threw it in the sea.

There was one a-walking slowTo a sad, long sigh.And his rose drooped low,And he flung it down to die.

There was one with a swaggerAnd a little, sharp pride,And a bright, cold daggerEver at his side.

At his side it stayedWhen he ran to part.What is this bladeStruck through my heart?

Words in this poem

swagger v. i.: To walk with a swaying motion; hence, to walk and act in a pompous, consequential manner. [Freq. of swag.]
carven a.: Wrought by carving; ornamented by carvings; carved.
stroking n.: The act of rubbing gently with the hand, or of smoothing; a stroke.
rode n.: Redness; complexion. [See Rud.]
stayed a.: Staid; fixed; settled; sober; -- now written staid. See Staid.

Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.

About this text

There Was One 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, There Was One, in Sunset Gun (1928), text of English Wikisource, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/parker-sunset-gun/there-was-one.html, id L27417.

Form and metre

There Was One is 40 lines in 10 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABAB. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 82%).

See other poems in iambic 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 ABAB grand^A · mare^B · band^A · there^B
2 ABAB band^A · me^B · hand^A · see^B
3 ABAB swift^A · song^B · gift^A · along^B
4 ABAB posies^A · red^B · roses^A · bread^B
5 ABAB swagger^A · tongue^B · dagger^A · swung^B
6 ABAB gilt^A · bad^B · hilt^A · mad^B
7 ABAB grand^A · me^B · band^A · sea^B
8 ABAB slow^A · sigh^B · low^A · die^B
9 ABAB swagger^A · pride^B · dagger^A · side^B
10 ABAB stayed^A · part^B · blade^A · heart^B

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 trimeter. How this is done.

Line	Syl.	Stress
There was one a-riding grand	7	····/˘·
On a tall brown mare,	5	·····
And a fine gold band	5	·····
He brought me there.	4	····
A little, gold band	5	·/˘··
He held to me	4	····
That would shine on a hand	6	······
For the world to see.	5	·····
There was one a-walking swift	7	····/˘·
To a little, new song,	6	··/˘··
And a rose was the gift	6	······
He carried along.	5	·/˘˘/
First of all the posies,	5	·····
Dewy and red.	4	/˘··
They that have roses	5	···/˘
Never need bread.	4	/˘··
There was one with a swagger	7	·····/˘
And a soft, slow tongue,	5	·····
And a bright, cold dagger	6	····/˘
Where his left hand swung—	5	·····
Carven and gilt,	4	/˘··
Old and bad—	3	···
And his stroking of the hilt	7	··/˘···
Set a girl mad.	4	····
There was one a-riding grand	7	····/˘·
As he rode from me.	5	·····
And he raised his golden band	7	····/˘·
And he threw it in the sea.	7	·······
There was one a-walking slow	7	····/˘·
To a sad, long sigh.	5	·····
And his rose drooped low,	5	·····
And he flung it down to die.	7	·······
There was one with a swagger	7	·····/˘
And a little, sharp pride,	6	··/˘··
And a bright, cold dagger	6	····/˘
Ever at his side.	5	/˘···
At his side it stayed	5	·····
When he ran to part.	5	·····
What is this blade	4	····
Struck through my heart?	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.

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