Death and Taxes: Light Verse

The famous humorist’s classic collection of poetry, ranging from lighthearted self-mockery to gleeful dark comedy—now available as a stand-alone edition.

One of the Jazz Age’s most beloved poets, Dorothy Parker earned her reputation as the wittiest woman in America with her popular light verse, which was regularly published in Vanity Fair, Life, and The New Yorker. Her first two poetry collections, Enough Rope and Sunset Gun, were runaway bestsellers, and she followed them in 1931 with the equally delightful collection Death and Taxes, featuring barbed satires and light-hearted laments that showcase her unmistakable sense of humor.

The Flaw in Paganism
Drink and dance and laugh and lie,
Love, the reeling midnight through,
For tomorrow we shall die!
(But, alas, we never do.)

The Very Rich Man
He’d have the best, and that was none too good;
No barrier could hold, before his terms.
He lies below, correct in cypress wood,
And entertains the most exclusive worms.

The Fisherwoman
The man she had was kind and clean
And well enough for every day.
But, oh, dear friends, you should have seen
The one that got away!