A Very Short Song b y Dorothy Parker

A Very Short Song

by Dorothy Parker

Once, when I was young and true,

Someone left me sad—

Broke my brittle heart in two;

And that is very bad.

Love is for unlucky folk,

Love is but a curse.

Once there was a heart I broke;

And that, I think, is worse.

Dorothy Parker was born in 1893 and died in 1967. Her first book of poetry was published in 1926, 100 years ago. Yet her poems--snarky, funny, biting, revelatory, blunt, sad, telling--resonant today. As do her wisecracks; oh, how I wish she were alive today to hear her take on our corrent politics! Directly or indirectly, I think she influenced everyone from Joan Rivers to Governor Ann Richards. Her writing includes not only poetry, but literary criticism, screenwriting, fiction, and essays. Her life was messy--one of those people you wish you could have been friends with (the parties! the gossip!) but am quite happy to not have been her. And, yes, her epitaph, which she herself wrote, does indeed state, "Pardon My Dust."

I love the poem above for its twist at the end. Of course it is sad to have one's heart broken, especially when young and full of drama and the inability to comprehend that there are other loves out there.

The second stanza seems to be saying that, because of that youthful broken heart, the speaker believes love is an awful thing. Then the twist: she remembers that she once broke someone's heart. Not only that, she realizes that that hurts even more.

If you have not read any Parker at all, or if it has been a while, do yourself a favor and go read her poems (especially) or anything she wrote. Her screenwriting credits include 1941's The Little Foxes, starring Bette Davis. Her first book of poems is called Enough Rope. Her poems and short stpories have been collected--sometimes together--in numerous books. Your library is sure to have at least one.