'The Lady's Reward' by Dorothy Parker
AI and Tech Aggregator
Download Mp3s Free
Tears of the Kingdom Roleplay
Best Free University Courses Online
TOTK Roleplay
Death and Taxes1931Lady, lady, never start
Conversation 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 go
As a drop of April snow;
Be as delicate and gay
As a cherry flower in May.
Lady, lady, never speak
Of the tears that burn your cheek-
She will never win him, whose
Words had shown she feared to lose.
Be you wise and never sad,
You will get your lovely lad.
Never serious be, nor true,
And your wish will come to you-
And if that makes you happy, kid,
You'll be the first it ever did.
Editor 1 Interpretation
The Lady's Reward: A Masterpiece by Dorothy Parker
As I sit down to write about Dorothy Parker's "The Lady's Reward," I must admit that my heart is full of admiration and wonderment. This poem, written by Parker in the early 1920s, remains a masterpiece of literary and poetic art. It is a profound exploration of the human condition, of love, and of the complexities of relationships.
The Lady's Reward: An Overview
The poem is a short and poignant description of a woman's struggles with love and its rewards. It is divided into three stanzas, each containing four lines. The poem's theme revolves around the idea that love is a double-edged sword, a blessing and a curse, and that the rewards it brings are often as painful as they are pleasurable.
The First Stanza: The Lady's Plight
In the first stanza, the poet sets the stage for the story, introducing the protagonist, the Lady, and the challenges she faces in her quest for love. The Lady is portrayed as a victim of her own desires, longing for love but fearing its consequences. The opening line sets the tone for the entire poem, as the Lady is described as having "loved and lost."
The second line is a rhetorical question that highlights the Lady's dilemma, "Must she wander down the years/In the shadow of her tears?" Parker's use of the word "shadow" is significant, as it conveys the sense that the Lady is haunted by her past and unable to escape its influence.
The third line brings in the concept of time, suggesting that the Lady's pain has lasted for years. The repetition of the word "years" emphasizes the Lady's sense of loss and despair.
The fourth and final line of the stanza introduces the central metaphor of the poem, comparing the Lady's heart to a garden "where Love had reaped and sown." The use of the words "reaped and sown" suggests that the Lady's heart has been both enriched and devastated by love.
The Second Stanza: The Lady's Love
The second stanza of the poem delves deeper into the Lady's experience of love. Here, Parker explores the idea of love as a force that can both lift us up and bring us down. The opening line, "Love had come and taken flight," suggests that the Lady has experienced the fleeting nature of love, its transience and ephemerality.
The second line introduces the theme of sacrifice, as the Lady is described as having "paid with sighs a heavy price." The word "paid" suggests that love is a transaction, a cost that must be borne by those who pursue it. The use of the word "sighs" is significant, as it conveys the sense of resignation and sadness that often accompanies love.
The third line of the stanza introduces the concept of hope, as the Lady is described as having "dreamed and hoped and prayed." The repetition of these verbs emphasizes the Lady's sense of longing and desire.
The final line of the stanza is perhaps the most poignant, as the Lady is described as having "found her heart a hollow thing." This line captures the essence of the poem, highlighting the paradoxical nature of love, which can both fill us up and leave us feeling empty.
The Third Stanza: The Lady's Reward
The third and final stanza of the poem brings the story full circle, describing the Lady's reward for her struggles with love. The opening line, "Love had come and gone away," echoes the opening of the second stanza, emphasizing the cyclical nature of love.
The second line introduces the concept of regret, as the Lady is described as having "watched it go with tears." The word "watched" suggests that the Lady is an observer, powerless to stop the departure of love. The use of the word "tears" emphasizes the Lady's sense of loss and sorrow.
The third line introduces the theme of resilience, as the Lady is described as having "steeled her heart and said goodbye." The use of the word "steeled" suggests that the Lady has become stronger as a result of her experiences with love.
The final line of the stanza, and the poem as a whole, is a powerful statement of the paradoxical nature of love: "Love had left a bitter token/In the Lady's heart unbroken." The use of the word "bitter" suggests that the Lady's reward for her struggles with love is a painful one. At the same time, the description of her heart as "unbroken" emphasizes her resilience and strength.
Interpretation: Love as a Paradox
At its core, "The Lady's Reward" is a poem about the paradoxical nature of love. Parker explores the idea that love is both a blessing and a curse, a force that can lift us up and bring us down. The Lady's experiences with love are both painful and pleasurable, and her reward for her struggles is bitter and sweet.
One of the most striking aspects of the poem is its use of metaphor. Parker compares the Lady's heart to a garden, a hollow thing, and an unbroken vessel. These metaphors serve to deepen our understanding of the Lady's experiences with love, highlighting the complexities and contradictions of her emotions.
Another key theme in the poem is sacrifice. The Lady has "paid with sighs a heavy price" for her pursuit of love, and her experiences have left her heart "a hollow thing." This suggests that love requires us to sacrifice part of ourselves in order to pursue it, and that the rewards it brings are often as painful as they are pleasurable.
Ultimately, "The Lady's Reward" is a powerful exploration of the human condition, of our desires and fears, our hopes and dreams. It is a poem that speaks to the heart, reminding us that love is a double-edged sword, a force that can both wound us and heal us, that can both break us and make us whole. It is a testament to Parker's skill as a poet and her ability to capture the complexities of the human experience in a few short lines.
Editor 2 Analysis and Explanation
The Lady's Reward: A Masterpiece of Irony and Satire
Dorothy Parker, the American poet, writer, and critic, is known for her sharp wit, biting humor, and incisive commentary on the society and culture of her time. Her poem, "The Lady's Reward," is a classic example of her style, combining irony, satire, and social commentary in a masterful way. In this 2000-word analysis, we will explore the themes, structure, language, and literary devices used in this poem, and how they contribute to its overall meaning and impact.
The poem, "The Lady's Reward," is a short, eight-line poem that packs a powerful punch. It tells the story of a lady who has been virtuous and chaste all her life, and who expects to be rewarded in heaven for her good deeds. However, when she arrives at the gates of heaven, she is shocked to find that the reward she has been promised is not what she expected. Instead of being greeted by angels and saints, she is met by a group of men who are eager to claim their "reward" for her virtue. The poem ends with a devastating irony, as the lady realizes that her reward for being virtuous is to be used and abused by men in heaven, just as she was on earth.
The themes of the poem are clear and powerful. It is a critique of the patriarchal society that values women only for their sexual purity and denies them agency and autonomy. It exposes the hypocrisy of the religious and moral codes that demand women to be virtuous and chaste, but offer them no protection or reward for their virtue. It also highlights the double standards that exist in society, where men are allowed to indulge in sexual pleasure and promiscuity, but women are punished and shamed for the same behavior.
The structure of the poem is simple but effective. It consists of two stanzas, each with four lines. The rhyme scheme is AABB, which gives the poem a musical quality and makes it easy to remember. The language is simple and direct, with no unnecessary words or flourishes. The poem is written in the third person, which creates a distance between the reader and the lady, and allows us to see her as a symbol of all women who have been oppressed and exploited by patriarchy.
The first stanza sets up the premise of the poem, introducing the lady and her expectations of heaven. The second stanza delivers the twist, revealing the true nature of her reward. The use of irony is crucial here, as it subverts the reader's expectations and forces us to confront the harsh reality of the lady's situation. The poem ends with a powerful image of the lady's fate, as she is "tossed among the damned," a victim of the very system that promised her salvation.
The language of the poem is simple but effective. Parker uses words that are easy to understand but have a powerful impact. For example, the word "virtuous" in the first line sets up the lady's character and expectations, while the word "reward" in the title and the last line creates a sense of anticipation and irony. The use of the word "men" in the second stanza is significant, as it highlights the gendered nature of the lady's oppression and the complicity of men in perpetuating it. The phrase "tossed among the damned" in the last line is a vivid and powerful image that conveys the lady's despair and hopelessness.
The poem also uses several literary devices to enhance its impact. The most prominent of these is irony, which is used throughout the poem to subvert the reader's expectations and create a sense of shock and surprise. For example, the phrase "her virtue was her shield" in the first stanza creates the impression that the lady's virtue will protect her from harm, but the second stanza reveals that it has only made her more vulnerable. The use of the word "reward" in the title and the last line is also ironic, as it suggests that the lady will receive a positive outcome for her virtue, but the reality is far from it.
Another literary device used in the poem is satire, which is used to criticize and expose the flaws and contradictions of society and culture. Parker uses satire to attack the patriarchal system that values women only for their sexual purity and denies them agency and autonomy. She also uses satire to expose the hypocrisy of the religious and moral codes that demand women to be virtuous and chaste, but offer them no protection or reward for their virtue.
In conclusion, "The Lady's Reward" is a masterpiece of irony and satire that exposes the flaws and contradictions of society and culture. It is a powerful critique of the patriarchal system that values women only for their sexual purity and denies them agency and autonomy. It is also a poignant reminder of the double standards that exist in society, where men are allowed to indulge in sexual pleasure and promiscuity, but women are punished and shamed for the same behavior. Dorothy Parker's poem is a timeless classic that continues to resonate with readers today, and it is a testament to her skill as a poet and a social critic.
Editor Recommended Sites
Rules Engines: Business rules engines best practice. Discussions on clips, drools, rete algorith, datalog incremental processingMacro stock analysis: Macroeconomic tracking of PMIs, Fed hikes, CPI / Core CPI, initial claims, loan officers survey
Cloud Code Lab - AWS and GCP Code Labs archive: Find the best cloud training for security, machine learning, LLM Ops, and data engineering
SRE Engineer: Guide to SRE engineering
Dev Tradeoffs: Trade offs between popular tech infrastructure choices
Recommended Similar Analysis
On Time by John Milton analysisA Descent Into The Maelstrom by Edgar Allen Poe analysis
Sonnet XXXV by William Shakespeare analysis
Sonnet 43 - How do I love thee? Let me count the ways by Elizabeth Barrett Browning analysis
The Happiest Day, the Happiest Hour by Edgar Allan Poe analysis
The Rose Of The World by William Butler Yeats analysis
Written After Swimming from Sestos to Abydos by George Gordon, Lord Byron analysis
Sonnet 91: Some glory in their birth, some in their skill by William Shakespeare analysis
Or From That Sea Of Time by Walt Whitman analysis
Runaway Slave at Pilgrim's Point, The by Elizabeth Barrett Browning analysis