by Dorothy Parker
Daily dawns another day;
I must up, to make my way.
Though I dress and drink and eat,
Move my fingers and my feet,
Learn a little, here and there,
Weep and laugh and sweat and swear,
Hear a song, or watch a stage,
Leave some words upon a page,
Claim a foe, or hail a friend—
Bed awaits me at the end.
Though I go in pride and strength,
I’ll come back to bed at length.
Though I walk in blinded woe,
Back to bed I’m bound to go.
High my heart, or bowed my head,
All my days but lead to bed.
Up, and out, and on; and then
Ever back to bed again,
Summer, Winter, Spring, and Fall—
I’m a fool to rise at all!
I chose this poem because its sentiment might seem all too familiar right now. If you are generous, you can read Parker’s poem as a love letter to staying in bed. We spend about a third of our lives just lying there, so why not make it more? After all, no matter what we do we only end back where started. Funnily enough, this poem could be interpreted in a similar manner to Ecclesiastes, which I wrote about in the past. ‘There is nothing new under the sun’. One could read this poem and come away with the message: ‘Why bother?’
On the other hand, if you look at the first stanza again, you will notice that the life described by Dorothy Parker does not in fact sound meaningless. Learning, weeping, laughing, listening to music, spending time with friends: while the destination after all these activities is ultimately the bed, it is not possible have both. You cannot stay in bed and experience all these things. So I choose to read Parker’s words and to celebrate that I can do everything she describes (even though there are limits to that at the moment, of course): I do not see having to go back to bed at the end as being stuck in a monotonous cycle; it is as a reward.
After having enjoyed each day, we get to rest so that we are ready for what comes tomorrow.
