Life, 1883-01-11 · page 10 of 18
Life — January 11, 1883 — page 10: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# "Somebody": A Victorian Love Poem This is a romantic poem titled "Somebody," not political satire. It depicts a male speaker's infatuation with an unnamed woman he's glimpsed only once or twice. The accompanying sketches show a fashionably dressed woman in profile and a standing figure in period dress, illustrating the idealized subject of his admiration. The poem progresses through four sections expressing increasingly elaborate romantic fantasies: initial attraction, imagined physical intimacy, frustrated longing, and final uncertainty about whether his feelings are reciprocated. The speaker romanticizes her as ethereal ("spirit of the air," "carved in ice") while acknowledging the futility of his "fancies" and describing himself as "daft" and "devout." The concluding stanza questions whether she'll ever hear his "brief epistle"—the poem itself—leaving the outcome uncertain. This reflects late-19th-century *Life* magazine's frequent publication of light, sentimental verse about courtship and unrequited love.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
-LIFE- Like some spirit of the air,— Gay Romance! Pert, perhaps,—a princess haughty, When he asked to kiss you,—ought he? And I noticed something naughty In your glance. Is it strange I stole a look, Queen of girls, When the merry laughter shook Yellow curls— ‘ Sunlit ripples down your shoulder? j If you’d been a summer older,— If I'd been a button bolder,— Giddy whirls Would have wound you in my grasp Firm and tight ; I'd have felt. your fingers clasp,— Slender, slight. Would your countless conquests miss you In a space as short as this? You Might have let a —— me, me kiss you Just good-night. SOMEBODY. Ill. But my fancies are in vain, Beauty's child ! Like the frostwork onthe pane, Wierd and wild, Fragile, fanciful, fantastic,— Jewelled feats of frost gymnastic, You are sweet, anon sarcastic,— H I HAVE seen you once or twice ; Mad, and mild; il : : { have seen— Yet it matters not to me, at \ Like an image carved in ice,— I can find 18 Y | Z You a queen, Only loveliness ; can see a Draped in satin, stately statue ; Deep behind iI And I've longed to leap and catch you. All these masks of mirths or hushes,— f Dazzling diamonds that scratch you All the soft, exquisite blushes, i Just between And a warm affection gushes Neck of rose and hair of gold, Through my mind. | Like twin stars, You're a strange, uncertain sea— I have called them lovers old,— I'm the skiff ; 4 : _ Venus, Mars ; You're a pipe of peace for me— 4 One gives kisses and caresses, I'm the whiff. One your shapely neck distresses See the smoke of adoration ! i Warrior-like. Excuse my guesses ! Smell the fragrant incantation ! Love unbars Yet ‘tis all anticipation } All the barriers that stay Hung on “If.” te Cupid's speed, 1k And he gallops fast away ‘i On the steed IV. Of extravagant emotion,— Of delight and fond devotion. Reader, listen to my rhyme,— Pleasure’s boat pays Duty’s ocean 'Tis about Little heed. One I worship ; say that I’m Daft,—devout ; Il But remember love will whistle 5 In the ears of rose or thistle. I have seen you, dainty,—fair, Which one hears my brief epistle ?— Foot the dance There's the doubt! comicbooks.com