The Lady’s Reward by Dorothy Parker
Now I know how I can post a poem in the morning… get up at 4:30am after tossing and turning for an hour…
I’ve posted a few of Dorothy Parker’s poems before and her tongue-in-cheek messages amuse me. I heard this one in Poetry on Record and it was great to hear Parker read it, especially when she barked out the last two lines. You can listen to this and other Parker poems at the Dorothy Parker Society. I found the text of this online in a couple places, but they all say “Be as delicate and as gay”, though Parker definitely doesn’t say delicate in the audio recording. The best guess I can make is trenchant. Thoughts?
The Lady’s Reward
By Dorothy Parker
Lady, 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 trenchant and as 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.
