What a cool chick she was. I dig her poetry. Here's a sample by her. And it's actually a ballad.

Dorothy Parker - Ballade of a Great Weariness

There's little to have but the things I had,
There's little to bear but the things I bore.
There's nothing to carry and naught to add,
And glory to Heaven, I paid the score.

There's little to do but I did before,
There's little to learn but the things I know;
And this is the sum of a lasting lore:
Scratch a lover, and find a foe.

And couldn't it be I was young and mad
If ever my heart on my sleeve I wore?
There's many to claw at a heart unclad,
And little the wonder it ripped and tore.
There's one that'll join in their push and roar,
With stories to jabber, and stones to throw;
He'll fetch you a lesson that costs you sore:
Scratch a lover, and find a foe.

So little I'll offer to you, my lad;
It's little in loving I set my store.
There's many a maid would be flushed and glad,
And better you'll knock at a kindlier door.
I'll dig at my lettuce, and sweep my floor,
Forever, forever I'm done with woe.
And happen I'll whistle about my chore,
"Scratch a lover, and find a foe."



L'ENVOI

Oh, beggar or prince, no more, no more!
Be off and away with your strut and show.
The sweeter the apple, the blacker the core:
Scratch a lover, and find a foe!
[This message was edited Mon Mar 10 3:21:37 PST 2003 by TRON]

Another cool thing is that that poem actually uses the word Prince. Those 2 just love name-dropping eachother.

Here's another ballad. Again, a Prince mention.

Dorothy Parker - Ballade at Thirty-Five

This, no song of an ingenue,
This, no ballad of innocence;
This, the rhyme of a lady who
Followed ever her natural bents.
This, a solo of sapience,
This, a chantey of sophistry,
This, the sum of experiments,
I loved them until they loved me.

Decked in garments of sable hue,
Daubed with ashes of myriad Lents,
Wearing shower bouquets of rue,
Walk I ever in penitence.
Oft I roam, as my heart repents,
Through God's acre of memory,
Marking stones, in my reverence,
"I loved them until they loved me."

Pictures pass me in long review,
Marching columns of dead events.
I was tender and, often, true;
Ever a prey to coincidence.
Always knew I the consequence;
Always saw what the end would be.
We're as Nature has made us, hence
I loved them until they loved me.


L'ENVOI

Princes, never I'd give offense,
Won't you think of me tenderly?
Here's my strength and my weakness, gents,
I loved them until they loved me.
[This message was edited Mon Mar 10 3:21:00 PST 2003 by TRON]

Dorothy Parker - Ballade of Unfortunate Mammals

Love is sharper than stones or sticks;
Lone as the sea, and deeper blue;
Loud in the night as a clock that ticks;
Longer-lived than the Wandering Jew.
Show me a love was done and through,
Tell me a kiss escaped its debt!
Son, to your death you'll pay your due-
Women and elcphants never forget.

Ever a man, alas, would mix,
Ever a man, heigh-ho, must woo;
So he's left in the world-old fix,
Thus is furthered the sale of rue.
Son, your chances are thin and few-
Won't you ponder, before you're set?
Shoot if you must, but hold in view
Women and elephants never forget.

Down from Caesar past Joynson-Hicks
Echoes the warning, ever new:
Though they're trained to amusing tricks,
Gentler, they, than the pigeon's coo,
Careful, son, of the curs'ed two-
Either one is a dangerous pet;
Natural history proves it true-
Women and elephants never forget.


L'ENVOI

Prince, a precept I'd leave for you,
Coined in Eden, existing yet:
Skirt the parlor, and shun the zoo-
Women and elephants never forget.

Dorothy Parker - Ballade of a Talked-off Ear

Daily I listen to wonder and woe,
Nightly I hearken to knave or to ace,
Telling me stories of lava and snow,
Delicate fables of ribbon and lace,
Tales of the quarry, the kill, the chase,
Longer than heaven and duller than hell-
Never you blame me, who cry my case:
"Poets alone should kiss and tell!"

Dumbly I hear what I never should know,
Gently I counsel of pride and of grace;
Into minutiae gayly they go,
Telling the name and the time and the place.
Cede them your silence and grant them space-
Who tenders an inch shall be raped of an ell!
Sympathy's ever the boaster's brace;
Poets alone should kiss and tell.

Why am I tithed what I never did owe?
Choked with vicarious saffron and mace?
Weary my lids, and my fingers are slow-
Gentlemen, damn you, you've halted my pace.
Only the lads of the cursed race,
Only the knights of the desolate spell,
May point me the lines the blood-drops trace-
Poets alone should kiss and tell.



L'ENVOI

Prince or commoner, tenor or bass,
Painter or plumber or never-do-well,
Do me a favor and shut your face
Poets alone should kiss and tell.

See a pattern developing here?

I actually picked up her collected works this weekend. Yay! Happy reading!

CarrieMpls said:

Let me know what you think of it, mkay?

No wonder he bases such a legendary song around her!

Her short stories are also great. And check out the many
hilarious bookreviews and occasional pieces she wrote for
magazines and papers.

C.J. ain't got shit on the Dorothy's dissing skills. My
god the things she writes about some of the books she had
to read for reviews. Very funny.

I think they're included in most of her "Complete" works,
but for sure they are in the Penguin "Collected DP".

There might also be some more, which weren't in the Penguin
one that were later published along with lesser known and
unpublished poetry in "the uncollected Dorothy Parker".

The "Dorothy Parker: What Fresh Hell Is This?" biography
is also a very enjoyable read. I finished that in about
a day since it stuck to my fingers from the minute I'd
picked it up. Full of very small details all over the
place.

For instance, before I read this bio I'd never heard of
the fact that she played a very small part in "Saboteur"
by Hitchkock.

Truly remarkable woman, especially for the time she lived
in back then.

Some of her poems are also around on records aren't they?
I remember downloading some of them, even a short piece
of film with her reading some of her poems. But that was
back in 1997, so I don't remember exactly. All I can now
remember is her f*cked up sounding raspy voice she got
from all that smoking and drinking.


[This message was edited Tue Mar 11 0:06:26 PST 2003 by IstenSzek]