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elleng

(138,032 posts) Mon Mar 17, 2014, 07:44 PM Mar 2014

"The Trusting Heart" by Dorothy Parker

Oh, I'd been better dying,
Oh, I was slow and sad;
A fool I was, a-crying
About a cruel lad!

But there was one that found me,
That wept to see me weep,
And had his arm around me,
And gave me words to keep.

And I'd be better dying,
And I am slow and sad;
A fool I am, a-crying
About a tender lad!

----------------

This just got to me, guys.

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4 replies

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"The Trusting Heart" by Dorothy Parker (Original Post) elleng Mar 2014 OP

I've never been very good at deciphering poetry Tobin S. Mar 2014 #1

Might be a bit of sarcasm, Tobin, elleng Mar 2014 #2

See, I'm clueless when it comes to that stuff. I usually get it wrong. Tobin S. Mar 2014 #3

Gotcha. elleng Mar 2014 #4

Tobin S.

(10,420 posts)

1. I've never been very good at deciphering poetry

Reply to elleng (Original post)

Tue Mar 18, 2014, 04:21 AM

Mar 2014

Has the speaker in the poem gotten betrayed by both the cruel lad and the tender lad because of her trusting heart? Or has she lost the love of the tender lad and feeling a different kind of remorse than when she was treated badly by the cruel lad?

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elleng

(138,032 posts)

2. Might be a bit of sarcasm, Tobin,

Reply to Tobin S. (Reply #1)

Tue Mar 18, 2014, 10:18 AM

Mar 2014

as its Dorothy Parker. She's a fool for both (or for neither.)

As to being 'good' at deciphering poetry, I just let it take me where it will.

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Tobin S.

(10,420 posts)

3. See, I'm clueless when it comes to that stuff. I usually get it wrong.

Reply to elleng (Reply #2)

Tue Mar 18, 2014, 04:07 PM

Mar 2014

Emily Dickinson might as well be speaking Chinese as far as I'm concerned.

I think it's because I have a very straight forward way of thinking and poetry doesn't usually work that way.

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elleng

(138,032 posts)

4. Gotcha.

Reply to Tobin S. (Reply #3)

Tue Mar 18, 2014, 04:15 PM

Mar 2014

Funny, now that you've mentioned it, I appear to have both ways of thinking, straight forward (attorney,) and sympathetic to poetry. Emily Dickinson is my favorite. Have enjoyed Dorothy Parker for years, mostly for her humor and sarcasm.

I learned only a couple of years ago that much of Dickinson's work is related to her garden, describes flowers etc. Went to NY botanical garden for a show:

The Poet as Gardener and Tiger Lily
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/30/arts/design/30dickinson.html?_r=0

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