Dearest one, when I am dead
Never seek to follow me.
Never mount the quiet hill
Where the copper leaves are still,
As my heart is, on the tree
Standing at my narrow bed.

Only of your tenderness,
Pray a little prayer at night.
Say: “I have forgiven now-
I, so weak and sad; O Thou,
Wreathed in thunder, robed in light,
Surely Thou wilt do no less.”

Analysis, meaning and summary of Dorothy Parker's poem Prayer for a Prayer

8 Comments

  1. Jay Raskin says:

    This is another beautiful poem by Mrs. Parker. It is really sad that it has been taken off this website due to copyright infringement. I will bet that the owner of the copyright today, 40 years after her death, and 87 years since the poem was written, is totally unrelated to Mrs. Parker or the poem. It is sad that some people are preventing her poems from being distributed and enjoyed for their own selfish monetary gain. I bet that she would not have appreciated that

  2. Kelsie 13 says:

    OMG THIS POEM IS BOMB!!!!!!!!!! (omg means oh my god if you didnt know)

  3. monet says:

    I myself as a poet can relate to what the author is trying to say it really is understandable and interesting

  4. lakeilah says:

    Ithink the poem was the greatest poem I ever read it relly hit me when I read because sometimes you have to let go

  5. muli piukala says:

    I really love this poem.The poem caught my attention in a big way.

  6. Haley Morris says:

    Well this poem reminded me so much of my sister becuase her best freind in the whole wide world died on her birth-day… December 7,2004 her name was Stacy Mann she died because she was on drug’s like Speed was the main thing the people who gave it to her hated her guts and she over dost with it and her heart like blew up and My sister and I went to her Funeral and went to her Bareall and her freinds and every one was giving speeches, my sister and I wasnt sure if she went to Heavan or not and this one girl said that she wouldn’t ever forgit the time when she got saved so now we know
    and if I understud this peom correctly then this is what it reminded me of sence that happend my sister has went to church with her husband and her 7 and a half year old Babie has not missed one day of church!!! I really like the peom…

  7. Mortez Lak says:

    Parker’s ability in creating nostalgic atmosphere is outstanding.She uses auditory and imaginative devices to suggest the nostalgia of the current time. Parker exerts the colours as tools for depicting both abstract and concrete situations ( like Gray for dismal days or attitudes)
    Parker’s poetry is a combination of some manifestations, like significance of religous tendencies and dreary times.And this point is clear in Prayer for a Prayer.

  8. Lynike14 says:

    hmm… the poem for me,tells us that we must be ready in everything…for the coming of our rest and hapiness with God…we must learn to forgive and forget for the greater glory of God… so that God will also forgive us….alwys talk to God for he is our redeemer and our savior….

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