Fulfillment
For this my mother wrapped me warm,
And called me home against the storm,
And coaxed my infant nights to quiet,
And gave me roughage in my diet,
And tucked me in my bed at eight,
And clipped my hair, and marked my weight,
And watched me as I sat and stood:
That I might grow to womanhood
To hear a whistle and drop my wits
And break my heart to clattering bits.
And called me home against the storm,
And coaxed my infant nights to quiet,
And gave me roughage in my diet,
And tucked me in my bed at eight,
And clipped my hair, and marked my weight,
And watched me as I sat and stood:
That I might grow to womanhood
To hear a whistle and drop my wits
And break my heart to clattering bits.
~ Dorothy Parker (1893-1967)
What happens to us in life often completely contradicts our mother's hopes for us. And it's not only a matter of what happens to us -- it's more the choices that we make, especially choices related to amorous passion.
ReplyDeletePS: I realize, FT, that I may not have gleaned the point of your post. But my comment above reflects my thoughts at that moment.
ReplyDeleteThe point, I think, is that Dorothy Parker was more than a hard boiled uniquely clever, sarcastic quipster. She was a very fine poet, but underrated as such. I realized this after I discovered two volumes of her poems -- Death and Taxes and Sunset Gun -- at a secondhand bookstore one summer at a beach community ages ago. Both are slim volumes, but packed with wisdom and moving personal revelations as well as the wisecracks for which she was most famous.
ReplyDeleteWhy do I post poetry?
Because often i distills important truths, principles and ironies in life that ought -- if read intelligently -- help us gain insight into the motivations and machinations of politicians and others who influence our lives both publicly and personally.
This one is about two things:
The power of Eros, and the near futility of trying to teach by precept.
We learn, Alas! much more about Life and how to live it from Experience than we do from Textbooks.
Poetry also gives us an opportunity to see and know ourselves better, of we are sensitive -- and open --to it. It also may suggest possibilities we never saw for ourselves.
ReplyDeleteNo battle plan survives contact with the enemy.
ReplyDeleteThat's what I think she is saying.
"You can lead a horticulture but you can't make her think."
ReplyDelete- Dorothy Parker's reply at an Algonquin Club meeting playing of "The Sentence Game" and the challenge to use "horticulture" in a sentence3.