Acid stains you; drugs cause cramp.

Gas smells awful; you might as well live" ("Suicide" 2).

This is often considered the most famous poem of Dorothy Parker among her over 400 poems that she composed during her lifetime. What does this say about an author who thinks and feels this way, who expresses her every thought in her poetry? Words were nearly her whole life and she expressed her ideas through these words. Since she sold her first poem at the age of twenty-one, she has been influencing minds with her ideas and thoughts. Dorothy Parker led a very interesting life with her poetry and writings being a major entity, pouring her heart and soul, her thoughts and dreams into her writing therefore being a strong influence on American literature.

Parker was born to J. Henry and Eliza Rothschild on August 22, 1893 in West End, New Jersey. She didn't have a very happy childhood for her mother died when she was very young and she endured a poor relationship with her father and stepmother. Writing was her passion ever since she was a little girl and it was also her escape. After having many of her works pub

"Yes, Parker married a few times, divorced a few times, drank, and wrote her heart out"(Davidson 783). As explains the American literary journal, she did have problems with commitment and drinking but above all she is known and should be known for her vast literary talent. Her skilful and clever poetry and character makes us look into ourselves as her wit makes us laugh at ourselves. This is one of the many reasons that Parker was and is so popular. Sadly she passed away of a heart attack on June seventh, 1967 at the Hotel Volney in New York City at the "Ripe old age of seventy-three." She left behind a legacy.

In her writings Parker brought forth struggles of the sexes and classes, she spoke of her concerns "Primarily with the emotional and intellectual landscape of women." She spoke of very personal "Rejection, disaffection, betrayal and loss" all in her funny and sardonic way. She is thought of as a huge influence on American literature and modern love because of this. Traditionally when a male poet speaks of love he celebrates "The beauty and virtue of an unattainable women." She is the object of his desire and the subject of the poetry. In her poetry Parker "undercuts" this conventional position of love by her irony and therefore breaks the tradition of male and female. In this way she changes the perception of love and consequently she recreated modern love. It is so explained by the American literary journal that "Parker forged a poetics which significantly transformed the roles and relations presented her by the literary tradition of lyric love poetry" (Davidson 773).

me, and in confession. / Softly, you told of loves that went before---/ of clinging arms, of kisses gladly given; / luxuriously clean of heart once more, /you rose up, then, and stood before me, shriven. /When this,

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Approximate Word count = 1225
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)