Dorothy Parker
Dec. 11th, 2005 10:31 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
celticdragonflyI was discussing with Karl last night how very fond I am of the poetry of Dorothy Parker, and he suggested I ought to write about it. We were on our way home from our date, and I can't remember just how I got started on describing her work. One of the things I am fond of in her work is the invariable kicker - that her poetry will be flowing in what seems one direction, and as you reach the end there's a kick back in a different direction. That twist and kick is so characteristic of her work and something I like very much.
This had come to mind recently when I was mentioning her work in an IM chat with someone else, and lazy creature that I am, rather than getting up and going into our library to find the book I have of her poetry and typing in some piquant bits to share, I had googled the poem I wanted, pulled up various pages, and copied and pasted. Some of these pages had several of her poems, and during pauses in the IM conversation I was idly reading through various examples. It had been quite a while since I'd read her work, so I had forgotten some of the details. I started reading through "Symptom Recital", with it only partially scrolled up the page. I was reading it, nodding to myself, agreeing, oh yes, yes I know that feeling, uh-huh, yes, me too. Then I scrolled the page down farther and hit the kicker. Ooh, ow. Yeah, I'd forgotten that one.
I enjoy her rhythm and scansion - something I tend to take for granted when it's done well and only notice in poetry when it's done badly, as was recently brought to my attention indirectly. I like her wit and attitude, her mockery, of herself more than anything. I like how quick her wit was - not just in the poetry, but some of the marvelously cutting things she's quoted as having said. I greedily read the poems in which she expresses biting wit that I know I couldn't get away with in this day and age.
I told Karl I do have to be a bit careful in reading her, as she is so very cynical and it does end up being rather catching. But I talked about how her cynicism is surface level, not all that it seems. I feel that she was cynical for the same reason that I'm pessimistic. I'm pessimistic because inside I have an utter wild optimist just screaming to be let out to run amuck. That inner optimist would like to get me in as much trouble as possible. (Why yes, Parker's poem "A Portrait of the Artist" is one of my very favorites.) Reading her poetry leaves me with the feeling that she was cynical in an attempt to defend herself from tendencies toward sentimentality and romanticism that she found to be dangerous.
So, are any of you also fond of Dorothy Parker's poetry? Anyone like to share some of their favorites?
This had come to mind recently when I was mentioning her work in an IM chat with someone else, and lazy creature that I am, rather than getting up and going into our library to find the book I have of her poetry and typing in some piquant bits to share, I had googled the poem I wanted, pulled up various pages, and copied and pasted. Some of these pages had several of her poems, and during pauses in the IM conversation I was idly reading through various examples. It had been quite a while since I'd read her work, so I had forgotten some of the details. I started reading through "Symptom Recital", with it only partially scrolled up the page. I was reading it, nodding to myself, agreeing, oh yes, yes I know that feeling, uh-huh, yes, me too. Then I scrolled the page down farther and hit the kicker. Ooh, ow. Yeah, I'd forgotten that one.
I enjoy her rhythm and scansion - something I tend to take for granted when it's done well and only notice in poetry when it's done badly, as was recently brought to my attention indirectly. I like her wit and attitude, her mockery, of herself more than anything. I like how quick her wit was - not just in the poetry, but some of the marvelously cutting things she's quoted as having said. I greedily read the poems in which she expresses biting wit that I know I couldn't get away with in this day and age.
I told Karl I do have to be a bit careful in reading her, as she is so very cynical and it does end up being rather catching. But I talked about how her cynicism is surface level, not all that it seems. I feel that she was cynical for the same reason that I'm pessimistic. I'm pessimistic because inside I have an utter wild optimist just screaming to be let out to run amuck. That inner optimist would like to get me in as much trouble as possible. (Why yes, Parker's poem "A Portrait of the Artist" is one of my very favorites.) Reading her poetry leaves me with the feeling that she was cynical in an attempt to defend herself from tendencies toward sentimentality and romanticism that she found to be dangerous.
So, are any of you also fond of Dorothy Parker's poetry? Anyone like to share some of their favorites?
