Since yesterday was Mothers' Day, I decided to push Poetry Sunday off to Monday this week. You can sue me if you want.
I have always enjoyed the writings of the very funny Dorothy Parker, a member of the famous Algonquin Round Table*, a noted author and critic, and the wielder of a wickedly clever pen. It was she who once wrote in a book review, "This is not a book to be tossed aside lightly; it should be hurled with great force." She also noted that "Brevity is the soul of lingerie." This poem by Dorothy Parker is a wonderful introduction to the outlook and personality of a very interesting ... and somewhat bizarre ... lady:
Neither Bloody Nor Bowed
by Dorothy Parker
It's doubtful if I come to good.
I see acquaintances and friends
accumulating dividends,
and making enviable names
in science, art, and parlor games.
But I despite expert advice,
keep doing things I think are nice,
and though to good I never come
inseparable my nose and thumb.
I never knew Dorothy Parker ... but I think I'd have liked her.
Bilbo
* Dorothy Parker was played by Jennifer Jason Leigh in the 1994 film "Mrs Parker and the Vicious Circle," which looked at the activities of the Algonquin Round Table. The group was also known as "The Vicious Circle" for the savagely barbed wit of its members.
6 comments:
Visiting a site offering a collection of her wit is rewarding. She was an American original.
A delicious, but probably apocryphal poem of hers went thusly:
Upon my honor, I saw a Madonna
Standing in a niche,
Above the door
Of the famous whore
Of a prominent son of a bitch.
She wielded a caustic pen for the 1930's.
That must have been an interesting crowd she hung out with.
She observed that men seldom make passes at girls who wear glasses. She was wrong.
That would be a tough crowd to hang out with.
Wicked great humor.
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