Judge, 1926-10-23 · page 9 of 36
Judge — October 23, 1926 — page 9: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis This page contains **poetry parodies**, not political cartoons. The collection, "Poems of Joy" by "Edna St. Oleolay" (a joke name—read aloud, it sounds like "Edna, steal away"), satirizes overwrought Romantic poetry popular in the 1920s. The satire mocks: - **Excessive sentimentality**: poems about nature that build dramatic tension over trivial events ("It looks like—Rain") - **Self-indulgent melancholy**: characters suffering profoundly from minor circumstances - **Purple prose**: flowery language describing nightingales, magnolias, and moonlit meadows - **Anticlimactic punchlines**: "The Tryst" ends with hiccups; "Love" concludes "Is awful" The decorative woodcut borders show dancing figures, matching the collection's title, but add no satirical meaning. This targets the genteel poetry magazines of the era and readers who took such overwrought verse seriously—a common Judge tactic of deflating artistic pretension through absurdist humor.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
OCTOBER 23, 1926 SUNRISE I kneel upon the hillside, The soft wind Caresses me, The summer sun arms me— am happy. A lar| Pours out its soul In song. A flower Grows at my feet— I laugh with joy. In the distance Stands a horse Two horses, Three horses, Many horses, Horses, horses, horses, Crazy over Horses, horses, horses. THE TRYST Why are you so silent? What can the reason be? Why do you stand in the door- way? With never a word to me? see Why don’t you answer me, darling? Tell me your secret, do. * Why do you stand in the door- way? Why do you look so blue? cess Hear me, I beseech you, Tell me the reason, quick. Why do you stand in the door- way? And only answer—Hic? les Poems of Joy By EDNA ST. OLEOLAY CLOUDBURST Skies darken, Thunder Peals in the distance, Streaks of lightning Rip the heavens, A drop of water Splashes Against my cheek It looks like— Rain. DESPAIR Purple shadows Melt in the mists of evening, A nightingale Sings to the silvery trinkle Of a far off waterfall. The perfume of magnolia Hangs in the twilight haze. And a maiden Sits alone And weeps. Weeps out her heart While the shades of night, Like black despair, Draw silently Around her. So young, so lovely, There in the dark. So miserably alone. And not even her best friends Would tell her. NOCTURNE Shades of night—falling, She was lovely—lovely. But now—I can’t eal Why did she, Why did she Pull down the shade? ALL ALONE Alone he stands, Ah, me! Where once there stood So many. And now He stands alone. Alone he stands He stands Alone Ah, me! ELFIN Over the moonlit meadow, Under a starlit sky, I dance A wild fandango, I sway To the pine tree’s sigh. I poise, I leap, And snaky loops Complete my every step. Aesthetically I dance alone, Alone, alone al—whoops! LOVE O love, O flower of love, Whose perfume Enchants my soul, What joy, What bliss. I think That this Is awful. comicbooks.com