Life, 1884-07-24 · page 3 of 16
Life — July 24, 1884 — page 3: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Page Analysis: "Ten Lines on Tennis" This page from *Life* magazine presents two tennis-themed illustrations with accompanying verse. The top illustration depicts two women in period dress (appearing to be late 19th or early 20th century) at a tennis court by a tree-lined shore. The poem below plays on romantic language, comparing a tennis ball to matters of the heart—the speaker's "heart is a tennis ball" that bounces and tumbles. The lower illustration shows Cupid (the Roman god of love) trapped in a spider's web, with the accompanying verse extending the romantic metaphor: Cupid has been "sore entangled" in the sport, struck by a tennis ball and unable to "play another." The satire appears gentle, using tennis as a vehicle for romantic and courtship commentary rather than political criticism. The cartoons mock the sentimental conflation of sports and romance popular in the era.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
TEN LINES ON TENNIS. Y heart it is a tennis ball, And gaily do you whack it : Lstrike—rebound ; I fly, I fall— 2 tumble to your racket, ie my gh, O lady of the vernal court ! My heart is sore entangled In Cupid’s net, whereto in sport Your fair arm—silver-bangled— Hath struck it (2 poor tennis ball) To play another at its fall ! comicbooks.com