Why is it, when I am in Rome,I’d give an eye to be at home,But when on native earth I be,My soul is sick for Italy? And why with you,…
Posts published in “Dorothy Parker Poems”
“Then we will have tonight!” we said. “Tomorrow–may we not be dead?”The morrow touched our eyes, and found Us walking firm above the ground,Our pulses quick, our blood alight. Tomorrow’s gone–we’ll have tonight!
The bird that feeds from off my palmIs sleek, affectionate, and calm,But double, to me, is worth the thrushA-flickering in the elder-bush.
If, with the literate, I amImpelled to try an epigram,I never seek to take the credit;We all assume that Oscar said it.
I shall tread, another year, Ways I walked with Grief,Past the dry, ungarnered ear And the brittle leaf. I shall stand, a year apart, Wondering, and shy,Thinking, “Here she broke her heart; Here…
In the pathway of the sun, In the footsteps of the breeze,Where the world and sky are one, He shall ride the silver seas, He shall cut the glittering wave.I shall sit at…
If I should labor through daylight and dark, Consecrate, valorous, serious, true,Then on the world I may blazon my mark; And what if I don’t, and what if I do?
Chloe’s hair, no doubt, was brighter;Lydia’s mouth more sweetly sad;****’s arms were rather whiter;Languorous-lidded Helen had Eyes more blue than e’er the sky was;Lalage’s was subtler stuff;Still, you used to…
Razors pain you;Rivers are damp;Acids stain you;And drugs cause cramp.Guns aren’t lawful;Nooses give;Gas smells awful;You might as well live.
If wild my breast and sore my pride, I bask in dreams of suicide;If cool my heart and high my head, I think, “How lucky are the dead!”
My land is bare of chattering folk; The clouds are low along the ridges,And sweet’s the air with curly smoke;;From all my burning bridges.
There was a rose that faded young;I saw its shattered beauty hung Upon a broken stem.I heard them say, “What need to careWith roses budding everywhere?” I did not answer them. There…
Oh, I should like to ride the seas, A roaring buccaneer;A cutlass banging at my knees, A dirk behind my ear.And when my captives’ chains would clank;;I’d howl with glee and drink,And…
Star, that gives a gracious dole, What am I to choose?Oh, will it be a shriven soul, Or little buckled shoes? Shall I wish a wedding-ring, Bright and thin and round,Or plead you…
You are brief and frail and blue– Little sisters, I am, too.You are Heaven’s masterpieces– Little loves, the likeness ceases.
You know the bloom, unearthly white,That none has seen by morning light-The tender moon, alone, may bareIts beauty to the secret air.Who’d venture past its dark retreatMust kneel, for holy…
Drink and dance and laugh and lie, Love, the reeling midnight through,For tomorrow we shall die! (But, alas, we never do.)
Lady, lady, never startConversation toward your heart;Keep your pretty words serene;Never murmur what you mean.Show yourself, by word and look,Swift and shallow as a brook.Be as cool and quick to…
Needle, needle, dip and dart,Thrusting up and down,Where’s the man could ease a heartLike a satin gown? See the stitches curve and crawlRound the cunning seams–Patterns thin and sweet and…
Oh, I’d been better dying,;;Oh, I was slow and sad;A fool I was, a-crying;;About a cruel lad! But there was one that found me,;;That wept to see me weep,And had…
When I was young and bold and strong,Oh, right was right, and wrong was wrong!My plume on high, my flag unfurled,I rode away to right the world.“Come out, you dogs,…
Back of my back, they talk of me, Gabble and honk and hiss;Let them batten, and let them be– Me, I can sing them this: “Better to shiver beneath the stars, Head on…
By the time you swear you’re his,;;Shivering and sighing,And he vows his passion is;;Infinite, undying –Lady, make a note of this:;;One of you is lying.
I wish I could drink like a ladyI can take one or two at the mostThree and I’m under the tableFour and I’m under the host
Helen of Troy had a wandering glance;Sappho’s restriction was only the sky;Ninon was ever the chatter of France;But oh, what a good girl am I!