The Last Question | The Style of Parker's Poem
In this essay, Potter explains how Parker uses
mock-serious language, poetic meter, and a series
of questions and answers to beg the somber final
response to her poem.
Upon a close reading of Dorothy Parker’s “The Last Question,” a few carefully crafted elements rise to the surface of what looks like a simple poem.
In the first stanza, the first two lines introduce the two speakers in the poem: the narrator and a lover in dialogue with each other. Asking a simple question, the narrator sounds like an innocent in the land of love: “New love, new love, where are you to lead me?
When the lover answers, however, archaic words like “marks” and “crooked” call attention to themselves, making the line an omen, for the road ahead...
[The entire page is 1194 words long]
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