Life, 1885-04-23 · page 11 of 16
Life — April 23, 1885 — page 11: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Life Magazine Page 235: "Contraction" This page combines a decorative illustration titled "Spring" (credited to "La Vie Moderne," a French publication) with a three-part poem about romantic disappointment. The poem satirizes a romantic encounter in the American South (St. John's River, Florida). A man woos a woman beneath oak trees, and they enjoy an idyllic three-week courtship with outdoor activities. However, the relationship suddenly ends when she claims to have overrated her feelings. The satirical twist emerges in Part III: the real reason for the breakup is financial. She abandoned him after learning that "Western stocks had acted" poorly—his fortune has "contracted." The poem's repeated use of "contracted" (engagement, constricted circumstances, financial contraction) creates the central joke: her sudden shift from romantic passion to pragmatic self-interest reveals that her affection was merely mercenary. The satire targets women's supposed cupidity and the transactional nature of courtship among those concerned with wealth.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
SPRING. La Vie Moderne. CONTRACTION. ENEATH the stately, old, gray-bearded live-oaks That gravely overhang St. John, his river. (And seem to me to dumbly wonder why folks Fly South to save their lungs and lose their liver.) Beneath the oak, I say, and the palmetto I met my fate, and wooed like one distracted. There was no need for strychnine or stiletto ; She liked me, and we solemnly contracted. IL. For three straight weeks my joy was unremitting. We rode, and walked, and sailed, and fished together. I got her alligators, as was fitting, And shot her many a bird of wondrous feathers. The inn we stayed at was unknown to fashion, But we both felt a crowd would have detracted. She gave the rein to fancy, I to passion ; And neither of us felt our sphere contracted. MIL. And then one day the bubble burst and vanished. She told me she had overrated feelings That now she knew to be pure friendship. Banished Was henceforth all my trust in woman's dealings But even now I hate to think it of her That she had read how Western stocks had acted, And that she had no use for a true lover Whose fortune had so suddenly contracted.