"The Trusting Heart" by Dorothy Parker

[elleng]

Oh, I'd been better dying,
Oh, I was slow and sad;
A fool I was, a-crying
About a cruel lad!

But there was one that found me,
That wept to see me weep,
And had his arm around me,
And gave me words to keep.

And I'd be better dying,
And I am slow and sad;
A fool I am, a-crying
About a tender lad!

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This just got to me, guys.

[Tobin S.]

1. I've never been very good at deciphering poetry

Has the speaker in the poem gotten betrayed by both the cruel lad and the tender lad because of her trusting heart? Or has she lost the love of the tender lad and feeling a different kind of remorse than when she was treated badly by the cruel lad?

[elleng]

2. Might be a bit of sarcasm, Tobin,

as its Dorothy Parker. She's a fool for both (or for neither.)

As to being 'good' at deciphering poetry, I just let it take me where it will.

[Tobin S.]

3. See, I'm clueless when it comes to that stuff. I usually get it wrong.

Emily Dickinson might as well be speaking Chinese as far as I'm concerned.

I think it's because I have a very straight forward way of thinking and poetry doesn't usually work that way.

[elleng]

4. Gotcha.

Funny, now that you've mentioned it, I appear to have both ways of thinking, straight forward (attorney,) and sympathetic to poetry. Emily Dickinson is my favorite. Have enjoyed Dorothy Parker for years, mostly for her humor and sarcasm.

I learned only a couple of years ago that much of Dickinson's work is related to her garden, describes flowers etc. Went to NY botanical garden for a show:

The Poet as Gardener and Tiger Lily
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/30/arts/design/30dickinson.html?_r=0