HAPPY BIRTHDAY – Dorothy Parker, born 22 August 1893
Dorothy Parker
“I hate writing. I love having written.”
One Perfect Rose
A single flow’r he sent me, since we met.
All tenderly his messenger he chose;
Deep-hearted, pure, with scented dew still wet –
One perfect rose.
I knew the language of the floweret;
‘My fragile leaves,’ it said, ‘his heart enclose.’
Love long has taken for his amulet
One perfect rose.
Why is it no one ever sent me yet
One perfect limousine, do you suppose?
Ah no, it’s always just my luck to get
One perfect rose.
Dorothy Parker is fabulous! Try reading her short story The Telephone Call, which is moving and funny all at the same time. Every woman who has ever sat hoping a guy would call will relate to it!
I have taken literary tour groups to lunch at the Algonquin Hotel in New York where Dorothy famously lunched at the round table with members of the ‘Vicious Circle’. They were incredibly witty and quick with words, and today a painting of the group is on the wall just above the table. If you do go there, keep an eye out for the gorgeous cat, Matilda, who lives in the hotel.
There are several good biographies of Dorothy and you can buy some of her stories and poems on CD, which is a great way to experience them.
Dorothy Parker died of a heart attack on 7 June 1967, aged 73.
Did you enjoy Dorothy Parker’s poem, or have you visited the Algonquin Hotel? Tell me in the comment area below.
The Collected Dorothy Parker by Dorothy Parker, Brendan Gill (Introduction by)
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