Judge — March 16, 1918 — page 3: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This page contains a serious poem rather than satirical content. "Whom the Gods Love," by Amelia Rives (Princess Troubetzkoy), is a World War I elegy mourning young soldiers who died in combat. The poem's title references the classical maxim "whom the gods love die young." The work celebrates fallen soldiers as England's "flower," arguing they achieved noble escape through death—freed from life's suffering and gaining immortality through sacrifice. The repeated final line "Whom the Gods love die young!—die young!—die young!" emphasizes this romantic idealization of youthful military death. Rather than satire, this represents Judge magazine's patriotic wartime content, offering consolatory rhetoric about sacrifice and honor to readers grieving the war's casualties. The accompanying angelic illustration reinforces this solemn, commemorative tone.