Original artwork, not a still
Razors pain you; Rivers are damp; Acids stain you; And drugs cause cramp. Guns aren't lawful; Nooses give; Gas smells awful; You might as well live.
Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
Parker’s bleak humour moves through a list of deterrents to self-destruction and lands on a deliberately understated choice to keep living. Its final turn gives the preceding catalogue its direction.
Sources (1)
- Dorothy Parker: Enough Rope (1926)Résumé, complete eight-line poemReference checked
Context reviewed
