Life, 1884-09-25 · page 3 of 16
Life — September 25, 1884 — page 3: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis of Life Magazine Page 171 **The Cartoon ("At Sea"):** A seaside scene depicts an uncle and small girl in conversation while a woman sits nearby. The uncle deflects the girl's question about preferring land or sea with self-deprecating humor about his own seasickness. The girl's punchline—that her papa says whenever he sees the uncle, "you are about half seas over"—is a period slang joke. "Half seas over" meant intoxicated, suggesting the uncle has a drinking problem. This is straightforward domestic humor about a family character type rather than political satire. **The Literary Content:** The page includes romantic poetry ("Autumn") and an essay section titled "Reflections of a Cynic" making philosophical observations about morality and medicine, typical of Life's literary fare from this era.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
-~ LIFE: 171 AT SEA. Small Girl; ARE N'Y YOU AWFULLY GLAD TO BE ON LAND SOMETIMES ? Uncle: WHY, WHAT DO YOU MEAN? I FLATTER MYSELF I AM ON LAND MOST OF THE TIME. Small Girl; YOu are! WHY, PAPA SAYS THAT WHENEVER HE SEES YOU, YOU ARE ABOUT HALF SEAS OVER. AUTUMN. Soon ascends my Gaudeamus, As I realize there are n't / Any facts that seem to warrant Premonitions of that sort. HAVE sundry queer sensations When the year gets 'round to Autumn, What they are, and how I caught ‘em Is obscure, but they are there— Certain gay exhilarations, Half and half, as Bass with Guinness, With a sad what-might-have-been-ness In the bright September air. Welcome this hallucination : Welcome none the less discerning Common sense in time returning To obliterate the spell. As a means of elevation— Back come hopes and young ambitions As a sort of moral derrick, With the golden-rod and sumach, This autumnal, atmospheric Lut impregnated with true Mac- Spirit-hoister bears the bell. Chiavellian despair, Taking note of changed condition: Weighing powers with limitations ; REFLECTIONS OF A CYNIC. Facts with futile aspirations does ee, Hee 3 Born of bracing autumn air. NV ORALITY is like medicine in that both begin with the same letter; both are disagreeable, but at times necessary: Now | see myself, grown famous, both cost more than they are worth; both are better to talk Bold of voice and free of gesture, about than employ; both are used homeopathically and allo- Grave, superb, of stunning vesture, pathically ; both are the gods of lucrative professions ; both Flood with eloquence the court. are utilized only when a man fears he is going to die.