Poem by Dorothy Parker

Verse Reporting Late Arrival at a Conclusion

Consider a lady gone reckless in love,
  In novels and plays:
You watch her proceed in a drapery of
  A roseate haze.
Acclaimed as a riot, a wow, and a scream,
She flies with her beau to les Alpes Maritimes,
And moves in a mist of a mutual dream
  The rest of her days.

In life, if you'll listen to one who has been
  Observant of such,
A lady in love is more frequently in
  Decidedly Dutch.
The thorn, so to say, is revealed by the rose.
The best that she gets is a sock in the nose.
These authors and playwrights, I'm forced to suppose,
  Don't get around much.

1. I Shall Come Back
2. The White Lady
3. Inventory
4. Song of Perfect Propriety
5. Chant for Dark Hours

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