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Dorothy Parker's "The Trifler" · The Daily Poem

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome back to The Daily Poem, a podcast from Goldberry Studios.
• 0:04
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Sean Johnson, and today is Wednesday, October 2nd, 2024.
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_00: Today's poem comes from Dorothy Parker,
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_00: a great early 20th century poet,
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  SPEAKER_00: short story author,
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  SPEAKER_00: essayist,
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  SPEAKER_00: critic,
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_00: and all-around renowned wit.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_00: She published, for many years, essays...
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_00: reviews, and short fiction in The New Yorker.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_00: She was a founding member of the New York Literary Circle known as the Algonquin Roundtable.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_00: And the poem we're reading from her today is called The Trifler.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: I'll read it once, offer a few comments, and read it one more time.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_00: The Trifler.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_00: Death's the lover that I'd be taking.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_00: Wild and fickle and fierce is he.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_00: Small's his care if my heart be breaking.
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  SPEAKER_00: Gay young death would have none of me.
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  SPEAKER_00: Hear them clack of my haste to greet him.
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  SPEAKER_00: No one other my mouth had kissed.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: I had dressed me in silk to meet him.
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  SPEAKER_00: False young death would not hold the tryst.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_00: slow as the blood that was quick and stormy smooth and cold as the bridal bed i
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_00: must wait till he whistles for me proud young death would not turn his head i must
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_00: wait till my breast is wilted i must wait till my back is bowed i must rock in the
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: corner jilted death went galloping down the road
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  SPEAKER_00: Gone's my heart with a trifling rover.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_00: Fine he was in the game he played.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_00: Kissed and promised and threw me over and rode away with a prettier maid.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_00: This poem is very much in keeping with some of the witty strands that run through Parker's poetry.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_00: She can be very...
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_00: earnest and sentimental, although at times she condemned that sort of thing in the writings of others.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_00: But often there is an edge, a witty cutting edge to her poetry.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: But in fairness to Dorothy,
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_00: It's often self-deprecating in its edginess or in its wit.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_00: And this poem is a great example.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_00: Many of her poems are lovers' laments and indictments of the sorts of men she encounters in her circles.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_00: And here,
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  SPEAKER_00: that complaint or indictment is taken to the utmost through the use of bathos,
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_00: the sort of mock epic tone in which...
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_00: She is so unlucky in love that she can't even pick up death.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_00: Even death jilts her and runs off with prettier maids,
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  SPEAKER_00: which is in itself this sort of dark,
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_00: humorous turn,
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_00: this gallows humor turn in the end.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_00: This idea that prettier young maids are dying and that in the midst of such tragic occasions,
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_00: all Parker can think of is death.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_00: how these are triumphant rivals in love.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_00: So if you are listening and lamenting that your love life seems dead, well, consider yourself fortunate.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_00: Dorothy Parker has had it even worse than you.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_00: Here's the trifler one more time.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_00: Death's the lover that I'd be taking.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_00: Wild and fickle and fierce is he.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_00: Small's his care if my heart be breaking.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_00: Gay young death would have none of me.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_00: Hear them clack of my haste to greet him.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_00: No one other my mouth had kissed.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_00: I had dressed me in silk to meet him.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_00: False young death would not hold the tryst.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_00: Slows the blood that was quick and stormy.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_00: Smooth and cold is the bridal bed.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_00: I must wait till he whistles for me.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_00: Proud young death would not turn his head.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_00: I must wait till my breast is wilted.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_00: I must wait till my back is bowed.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_00: I must rock in the corner jilted.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_00: Death went galloping down the road.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_00: Gone's my heart with a trifling rover.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_00: Fine he was in the game he played.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_00: Kissed and promised and threw me over and rode away with a prettier maid.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_00: This has been The Daily Poem.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks so much for listening.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_00: We'll be back tomorrow with another poem for you.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_00: Till then,
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_00: you can listen to past episodes at dailypoempod.substack.com or subscribe and
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_00: support the show.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_00: For all of us here at Goldberry Studios, I'm Sean Johnson, wishing you happy reading.