Unfortunate Coincidence

Dorothy Parker

 By the time you swear you're his,
   Shivering and sighing,
 And he vows his passion is
   Infinite, undying -
 Lady, make a note of this:
   One of you is lying.

Commentary

What I like about today’s poem is not just the drippingly ironic cynicism, but the wonderful brevity with which Parker conveys it. The first four lines call to mind every cliched, overly sentimental scene from countless ‘romantic’ novels and movies, and the matter-of-fact tone of the conclusion serves not just to sum up Parker’s opinions of the sentiment, but the amount of effort she feels it needs to refute it. Definitely one of her more quotable pieces.

— Martin


The Wondering Minstrels, poem #1090 · 9 September 2002

Poem selected by Martin DeMello

Fair use

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From the Wondering Minstrels mailing list, 1999–2008.

Rajarshi Bandyopadhyay · 9 September 2002

My feelings exactly. I just love this one.

Raj

Elisa Lenz · 4 August 2004

I appreciate the wit that summed up the total written word on romance in so short a verse.

SheiClb · 9 October 2006

its a mario e lugie