Life, 1883-04-05 · page 10 of 16
Life — April 5, 1883 — page 10: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Life Magazine Page Analysis This page presents **"Eve Fugaces: Posthyme Posthume Labuntur Anni"** (Latin: "The fleeting hours slip away"), a sentimental poem by Guy Carleton with accompanying illustration. The image shows a young woman at a mirror, and the poem traces life's passage through three stages: youth (morning—maiden awaiting her lover's return), marriage (noon—their union blessed), and old age/death (night—both lovers dead). The ticking clock serves as the poem's central metaphor for time's relentless progression. The Latin title emphasizes this classical theme of *tempus fugit* (time flies). This is **not political satire** but rather Victorian-era sentimental verse—typical of Life magazine's literary content alongside humor. The melodramatic tone and memento mori theme (contemplation of death) reflect late 19th/early 20th-century artistic sensibilities. The ornate illustration style complements the romantic, elegiac mood.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
MES OSTHVME: AYNIEVR-ANWI! I. “HE old clock croonson the sun-kissed wall— Tick, tock! Tick, tock! ‘The merry seconds to minutes call : Tick, tock! "Tis morn. UH) SUNUHHERSOnIAE io oY + A maiden sits at the mirror there, And smiles as she braids her golden hair: O, in the light, but her face is fair ! Tick, tock ! tick, tock | Far over the sea the good ship brings The lover of whom the maiden sings ; From the orange tree the first leaf springs : Tick, tock ! tick, tock ! II, The old clock laughs on the flower-decked wall— Tick, tock! Tick, tock! The rose-winged hours elude their thrall: Tick, tock! "Tis noon! The lover's pride and his love are blest ; The maiden is folded to his breast ; On her brow the holy blossoms rest : Tick, tock | tick, tock O thrice, thrice long may the sweet bells chime, As echoing thisthro’ future time! * © © Still to my heart beats that measured rhyme— Tick, tock ! tick, tock! III. The old clock moans on the crumbling wall— ick, tock! tick, tock! The drear years into eternity fall : Tick, tock!" Tis night! The thread that yon spider draws with care Across the gleam of the mirror there, Seems like the ghost of a golden hair: Tick, tock! tick, tock! The sweet bells chime for those who may wed ; The neroli-snow crowns many a head,— But tree and maiden and lover are dead. Tick, tock! tick, tock 1 Guy CaRLeton. Nee 1 \ yi th. « comicbooks.com