Comment -- Dorothy Parker

(Poem #192) Comment Oh, life is a glorious cycle of song, A medley of extemporanea; And love is a thing that can never go wrong; And I am Marie of Roumania. -- Dorothy Parker

Short, sweet and to the point. The four line poem is one that particularly
lends itself to humorous effect - it allows a little more buildup than a
couplet, while preserving the added impact that comes from having the
punchline coincide with the first rhyme[1].

Examples abound, including several by Nash, Belloc, Bierce, Bentley etc,some
of which have been run on Minstrels. And, of course, some lovely ones by
Parker herself, of which the one above is probably my favourite - partly for
the fine tone of irony, and partly for the ingenuity of the rhyme[2]. And
partly, too, for Parker's particular talent of combining a light, pattering
surface, with the bitter undercurrent that runs through nearly all her work.

[1] technically the second rhyme here, but the point is that the quatrain,
especially the short-lined one, is often just an extension of a couplet,
with the  1/3 rhyme either assuming a secondary position, or omitted
altogether, so that it isn't associated with any sense of closure.

[2] another very common element of humorous verse

m.

Notes: See poem #150