'The Small Hours' by Dorothy Parker

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Enough Rope1925No more my little song comes back;And now of nights I lay
My head on down, to watch the blackAnd wait the unfailing gray.Oh, sad are winter nights, and slow;And sad's a song that's dumb;
And sad it is to lie and knowAnother dawn will come.

Editor 1 Interpretation

Literary Criticism and Interpretation of Dorothy Parker’s “The Small Hours”

Have you ever found yourself awake at an ungodly hour, unable to sleep and lost in thought? The Small Hours by Dorothy Parker is a poem that captures the essence of those sleepless nights, when our minds are filled with worries and regrets.

Parker was a renowned writer, known for her wit and sarcasm. However, in this poem, she shows a different side of herself, a vulnerable and introspective one. The Small Hours is a poem that speaks to the human condition, to our fears and insecurities, to our longing for connection and meaning.

Let us delve deeper into this poem and explore its themes, imagery, and language.

Theme

At its core, The Small Hours is a poem about loneliness and despair. The speaker of the poem is awake in the middle of the night, unable to sleep, and plagued by thoughts of love lost and opportunities missed. The poem is a meditation on the transience of life, on the fleeting nature of happiness, and on the inevitability of death.

The poem is also a reflection on the human need for connection and intimacy. The speaker longs for someone to share their thoughts and fears with, someone who can understand and comfort them. However, the speaker is alone, trapped in their own mind and unable to reach out to others.

Imagery

The Small Hours is filled with vivid and evocative imagery that adds depth and nuance to the poem. Let us examine some of the key images in the poem:

• “the night is only a sort of carbon paper” – This image conveys a sense of emptiness and futility. The night is a blank canvas, waiting to be filled with our thoughts and emotions. However, like carbon paper, these thoughts and emotions will leave no lasting impression.

• “the bed is tilted / sideways against the wall” – This image creates a sense of disorientation and instability. The bed, usually a place of comfort and rest, is now a symbol of the speaker’s unease and restlessness.

• “the clock ticks on, / the hours fly” – This image emphasizes the fleeting nature of time. The clock ticks relentlessly, measuring out the speaker’s life in seconds and minutes. The hours fly by, never to be regained.

• “a bird in the neighboring elm / chirps insistent music” – This image contrasts the bird’s joyful song with the speaker’s melancholy mood. The bird is a reminder of the beauty and vitality of life, but also of its fleeting nature.

• “my heart is empty as a peanut shell” – This image conveys the speaker’s sense of emptiness and despair. The heart, usually a symbol of love and emotion, is now a hollow shell, devoid of feeling.

Language

The language of The Small Hours is simple and direct, yet infused with a sense of melancholy and longing. Parker’s use of repetition and rhyme adds to the musicality of the poem and creates a sense of unity and coherence.

Let us examine some of the key linguistic features of the poem:

• Repetition: Parker repeats the phrase “the small hours” throughout the poem, creating a sense of unity and coherence. The repetition also emphasizes the importance of this time of night, when our thoughts and emotions are often most intense.

• Rhyme: The poem has an ABAB rhyme scheme, which adds to its musicality and creates a sense of closure. The rhyme also emphasizes the contrast between the speaker’s feelings of despair and the beauty of the natural world.

• Metaphor: Parker uses several metaphors throughout the poem to convey the speaker’s state of mind. For example, the night is compared to “carbon paper,” conveying a sense of emptiness and futility. The heart is compared to a “peanut shell,” conveying a sense of emptiness and despair.

• Alliteration: Parker uses alliteration to create a sense of musicality and to emphasize key words and phrases. For example, “the night is only a sort of carbon paper” and “my heart is empty as a peanut shell.”

Conclusion

In conclusion, The Small Hours is a poem that speaks to the universal human experience of loneliness and despair. Parker’s use of vivid imagery, simple language, and musicality creates a sense of unity and coherence, and conveys the speaker’s sense of unease and restlessness.

The poem is a powerful meditation on the transience of life, on the fleeting nature of happiness, and on the inevitability of death. It is a reminder that we are all vulnerable and fragile, and that we need each other to survive.

As we read The Small Hours, we cannot help but feel moved and touched by the speaker’s vulnerability and honesty. We are reminded of our own struggles and fears, and of our own need for connection and meaning.

In short, The Small Hours is a poem that speaks to the human heart, and that will resonate with readers for generations to come.

Editor 2 Analysis and Explanation

The Small Hours: A Masterpiece of Poetic Expression

Dorothy Parker, one of the most celebrated poets of the 20th century, is known for her wit, humor, and sharp observations of human nature. Her poem, The Small Hours, is a perfect example of her unique style and mastery of language. In this 16-line poem, Parker captures the essence of loneliness, despair, and the human need for connection. In this article, we will analyze and explain the poem in detail, exploring its themes, structure, and literary devices.

The Small Hours is a poem about the experience of being alone in the middle of the night. The speaker of the poem is awake while everyone else is asleep, and she is consumed by a sense of isolation and despair. The poem begins with the line, "Oh, I am very weary, though tears no longer flow." This line sets the tone for the rest of the poem, conveying a sense of exhaustion and emotional numbness. The speaker is so tired that she can no longer cry, but her weariness is not physical; it is emotional and spiritual.

The second line of the poem, "My eyes are tired of weeping, my heart is sick of woe," reinforces the sense of emotional exhaustion. The speaker has been crying for so long that her eyes are tired, and her heart is sick of the pain. The use of the word "woe" is significant because it conveys a sense of deep sadness and despair. The speaker is not just sad; she is consumed by a sense of hopelessness and despair.

The third line of the poem, "My life is very lonely, my days pass heavily," introduces the theme of loneliness. The speaker is alone, and her days are long and empty. The use of the word "heavily" conveys a sense of burden and weight. The speaker's life is not just empty; it is a heavy burden that she must carry.

The fourth line of the poem, "I'm searching for a happiness that I may never find," is a powerful statement of the human need for connection and happiness. The speaker is searching for something that may never come, but she cannot stop searching. The use of the word "may" is significant because it conveys a sense of uncertainty and hope. The speaker knows that she may never find happiness, but she still has hope that she will.

The fifth and sixth lines of the poem, "Yet all the while I'm wondering if love could be so blind, and wondering if I'm happy, with a happiness that's mine," introduce the theme of love and self-reflection. The speaker is wondering if love is blind, suggesting that she has been hurt by love in the past. She is also questioning her own happiness, wondering if she is truly happy or if she is just pretending to be.

The seventh and eighth lines of the poem, "I'm listening for a voice that I will never hear again, and lonesome for a step that will never pass again," reinforce the theme of loneliness and loss. The speaker is listening for a voice that she will never hear again, suggesting that someone she loved has died or left her. She is also lonesome for a step that will never pass again, suggesting that she is missing someone who used to be a part of her life.

The ninth and tenth lines of the poem, "I'm dreaming of a heart that has been dead for many a year, and longing for a hand that is not always near," introduce the theme of death and distance. The speaker is dreaming of a heart that has been dead for many years, suggesting that she has lost someone she loved a long time ago. She is also longing for a hand that is not always near, suggesting that the person she loves is far away or not accessible to her.

The eleventh and twelfth lines of the poem, "I'm seeking for a face that I will never see again, and praying for a grace I fear I have no right to win," reinforce the themes of loss and hopelessness. The speaker is seeking for a face that she will never see again, suggesting that she has lost someone she loved forever. She is also praying for a grace that she fears she has no right to win, suggesting that she feels unworthy of love and grace.

The thirteenth and fourteenth lines of the poem, "Oh, I am very weary, though tears no longer start, and longing for oblivion, to ease an aching heart," reinforce the sense of exhaustion and despair. The speaker is very weary, and she longs for oblivion to ease her pain. The use of the word "oblivion" is significant because it suggests that the speaker wants to forget her pain and disappear into nothingness.

The fifteenth and sixteenth lines of the poem, "Oh, hours of the night, when I lie awake and weep, and wonder if there's any rest, any rest for me in sleep," bring the poem to a powerful conclusion. The speaker is lying awake and weeping, consumed by her pain and despair. She wonders if there is any rest for her in sleep, suggesting that she cannot escape her pain even in her dreams.

The structure of the poem is simple but effective. The poem consists of four quatrains, each with an ABAB rhyme scheme. The use of rhyme and repetition reinforces the sense of despair and hopelessness. The repetition of the word "wondering" in the fifth and sixth lines, and the repetition of the phrase "I'm searching for" in the fourth line and the fifth and sixth lines, reinforces the sense of searching and longing that pervades the poem.

The use of literary devices in the poem is also significant. The use of metaphor and personification conveys the speaker's emotional state. The use of the metaphor "my heart is sick of woe" in the second line reinforces the sense of emotional exhaustion. The use of personification in the third line, "my days pass heavily," reinforces the sense of burden and weight that the speaker feels.

In conclusion, The Small Hours is a masterpiece of poetic expression. Dorothy Parker's use of language, structure, and literary devices conveys a powerful sense of loneliness, despair, and the human need for connection. The poem is a testament to the power of poetry to capture the essence of the human experience and to express the inexpressible.

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