Judge — April 21, 1917 — page 3: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# "Ballade of the Villa-Dwellers" by F. Gregory Hartswick This poem satirizes wealthy suburbanites who commute to the city. The decorative border features trains and automobiles—the era's modern transportation. The satire targets the contradiction of suburban villa life: residents fled the city's "heat and fleas" for a peaceful rural retreat, yet now complain about the commute. Lines like "Forty minutes from City Hall" emphasize their paradox—they want both escape AND urban convenience. The poem mocks their pretensions: they possess "styled prospectus and classic lies," suggesting false advertising about suburban living. References to "train-bound commuter-hind" and seasonal hardships ("During the Winter the town we prize / Glow anew with the Siren's thrall") ridicule their seasonal migrations and romantic delusions about country life. Essentially: early 20th-century suburban commuters are exposed as hypocrites seeking impossible contradictions.