Dorothy Parker’s poem A Certain Lady is a short poem in which the speaker laments the fact that her loved one does not love her back. One Perfect Rose is a poem about old love clichés and more desires of the speaker. Both poems deal with the significance and complexity of romance and represent the author’s attitude towards romance. The two poetry elements that make A Certain Lady special for me are anaphora and imagery. In One Perfect Rose, such elements as alliteration and repetition shape my understanding of the poem.
Anaphora is used in the A Certain Lady in order to emphasize the main idea. In the poem A Certain Lady, the word ‘And’ begins the first ten lines. It is also worth noting that the first line of both stanzas begins with “Oh, I can” (Parker 1). The purpose of using it is to give the poem an artistic impression. By using anaphora, the author reveals the emotional nature of her relationship with her loved ones and the complex façade she must maintain to prevent her from abandoning her. As for me, the anaphora made the poem more persuasive, inspiring, and encouraging to cope with emotions. I could feel all the emotions that the author wanted to express, particularly I had understood that she saw the romance as something strategic and complicated.
When a poet captivates the reader’s senses and imagination with vibrant details and unusual phrases, it is known as imagery. For example, the lines from the first stanza: “And drink your rushing words with eager lips, / And paint my mouth for you a fragrant red,” (Parker 2) are responsible for evoking the reader’s imagination. Personally, I had a clear image in my head when I read the poem; that is why using imagery shaped my understanding of the poem and the role of romance in it.
When the words ‘One Perfects Rose’ are used one after another, or at least close together and start with the same sound, this is called alliteration. For example, in the second stanza, “Love long,” (Parker 7), and the first and second lines ‘met’ and ‘messenger’ is used close to each other. Using alliteration in the poem shaped my impression of the poem because, firstly, this device made the poem sound more pleasing to me. Next, such an element catches the reader’s attention; that is why I think that it is important. Since the poem had a good rhyme, alliteration inserted a so-called melody into the poem. Alliteration made the One Perfect Rose appealing for me and made the poem more enjoyable to read, especially out loud. It is especially important since the poem raises a romantic topic.
In poetry, repetition refers to the use and reuse of a single word or phrase. The author uses repetition of “One Perfect Rose,” (Parker 4) which appears several times in a poem, either in whole or in small variations. In this example, she uses the words ‘One Perfect Rose’ to finish every single stanza. I think that this way, the author emphasizes the role of the rose in the poem. In addition, this element made the tone of the poem more romantic and mysterious. I think that Dorothy Parker wanted to convey the idea that those roses had a big meaning for her and symbolized her love story. I have understood that in romance, even some small things may serve as a symbol of deep feelings and big love.
The author expresses her attitude towards romance using such poem elements and literary devices as alliteration, anaphora, imagery, and repetition. Both poems are written on a similar topic and theme; however, the elements of the poems are different. That is why they have a different effect on the reader, and their tones differ. My understanding of the romance topic is shaped specifically by analyzing the literary devices used in order to convey the main idea of the author.
Works Cited
Parker, Dorothy. “A Certain Lady”. New York, Boni & Liveright, 1926.
Parker, Dorothy. “One Perfect Rose”. New York, Boni & Liveright, 1926.