Life, 1885-08-06 · page 3 of 16
Life — August 6, 1885 — page 3: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis of Life Magazine Page 73 **"Her Wicker Chair"** is a sentimental poem illustrated with a sketch of a woman seated in a wicker chair. The verse romanticizes both the chair and the woman, with references to her eyes and rejected suitor. This appears to be lighthearted romantic poetry rather than political satire. **Below are two fables**: "The Near-Sighted Dude" mocks a foolish man who mistakes objects at a distance, and "The Bobtail Fox" satirizes a fox with a docked tail attempting to gain society acceptance. Both fables end with morals about aesthetic and practical considerations. The right column contains gossip items titled "Cableograms via Cunard Steamers," including anecdotes about European royalty and cultural figures, written in a humorous, scandalmongering tone typical of society journalism from this era.
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- LIFE: HER WICKER CHAIR. H, wicker chair, all trimmed with bluc, With cushioned plush of dainty hue! Thou held 'st a being of such grace Within thy generous embrace ! Of form divine and fair to view, Her eyes like glist’ning drops of dew Rebuked me when I tried to woo. And in them find of love a trace, Ah, wicker chair! But when my suit I tried anew, She leaned still further back in you ; She calmly fixed some wayward lace, And cast, while gazing in my face, Sad doubts upon my revenue. Ah, wicked chair. FABLES FOR THE TIMES. THE NEAR-SIGHTED DUDE. NEAR-SIGHTED Dude was standing in a road and leaning against a zephyr to rest himself, when he thought he saw a girl in the window of a house near by wav- ing a white handkerchief at him. The challenge filled the Dude with enthusiasm, and he started across a field in order to confirm his supposed conquest. After spraining one leg by stepping in a horse-track and knocking the skin off the other one against a young cornstalk, he approached the house and discovered that the waving apparatus was the re- mains of a mustard plaster swinging on a clothes-line. MORAL: This Fable teaches that things are often what they do n't seem to be; and that a committee of blind men would make poor headway examining pictures. THE BOBTAIL FOX. FOX once had his tail cut off in a Fourth of July street L fight. Soon afterwards he met another Fox and tried to persuade him that it was not fashionable or aristocratic to have long tails, and that every Fox should have himself cur- tailed if he wished to shine in the best society or succeed in politics. with his brush. Pretty soon a pack of hounds came in sight, but thinking that the bobtail Fox was a Rabbit, tbey let him escape, and caught the other one and killed him. MorAL: This Fable teaches that the practical issues of life should outweigh zxsthetic considerations. It also hints that the tail of an Opossum, though excellent for holding on to a limb, makes a good handle for a huntsman to take hold of. But the second Fox could not be persuaded to part | CABLEGRAMS via CUNARD STEAMERS. RINCE HENRY, of Battenberg, has asked the Queen’s permission to wear his hair banged. Her Majesty has the matter under consideration. A SCHEME is on foot in France to tax frogs. If it is strongly urged the ministry will probably resign. MANY persons now contend that the unconsumed part of Shelley was neither his heart nor his liver, but a roll of fried tripe, which he was carrying in his pocket as a lunch. THE “music-mad" King of Bavaria wants to engage Mary Anderson to play for him alone;. but “Our Mary” would hardly play to such a promiscuous and ill-assorted audience. A NEW novel is to be published by Bungs, Boggs & Co., of London, in ten costly volumes of ten pages each, making loo pages in all. The price will be five pounds a volume. A cheap American edition will be sold at five cents a copy, or three for a dime. Q A HAM-SANDWICH has been dug out of the ruins of Pom- peii in a perfect state of preservation. It bore on the ob- verse side the familiar inscription, “ In hog pigno vinces.” THE Sultan wants to launch a new floating loan for the benefit of the navy. The army expenses are kept as a run- ning account. THE Queen is said to have three vacant garters to dis- pose of. It is suggested that after her Majesty has conferred two of them on some able-bodied English noble—if such a thing exists—there are plenty of one-legged soldiers in her realm who could manage to scrape along somehow on the third. comicbooks.com