Life, 1886-01-07 · page 3 of 16
Life — January 7, 1886 — page 3: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Page Analysis This page contains two separate items: **"A Disappointment"** (top): A domestic cartoon showing a mother reading to children, with Little Billy expressing disappointment that lions didn't eat the biblical Daniel. The humor relies on a child's literal, violent interpretation of a religious story versus its moral lesson about faith and protection. **"Break, Break, Break"** (bottom left): A poem about broken household items—specifically a Dresden vase—lamenting domestic accidents and their permanence ("the words that should not be said" suggests regretted harsh reactions to breakage). **"The Religious School of Art"** (bottom right): A brief dialogue joking that a son painting "religious pictures" is actually painting Madonnas—a common, somewhat pedestrian subject in art history, implying the son isn't particularly original or ambitious artistically. The page is miscellaneous humor and light satire rather than political commentary.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
A DISAPPOINTMENT. Mamma (reading): AND DANIEL WAS CAST INTO THE LIONS’ DEN ; BUT THEY DID NOT HARM HIM, FOR— Little Billy (bursting into tears): Ou! Ooo! I THOUGHT THE LIONS WERE GOING TO EAT HIM. Mamma: BUT THE NAUGHTY LIONS DID NOT EAT GOOD DANIEL, MY OWN TENDER HEARTED LITTLE LAMB. Little Billy (angrily): But 1 WANTED THE LIONS TO EAT DANIEL; I HATE DANIEL; BESIDES, IT WOULD HAVE BEEN MORE EXCITING, “ BREAK, BREAK, BREAK.” “ Break, break, break,” All over the house, oh, maid ! ““ REAK, break, break,” | ,. , On the hard wood floor, oh, maid! | But the tender grace of the vase that is smashed Will ne'er from my memory fade. And I would that my tongue could utter P.S.deL The words that should not be said. -——- - — es . THE RELIGIOUS SCHOOL OF ART. O well for the kitchen’s Fange, “ ES,” said Mrs. Bennington, “my son, George, is That it's fastened tight to the wall! | getting to be quite’ab’aftiat.” O well for the wall itself, |“ Does he affect any particular school of art?” asked the That it 's fixed so it cannot fall. visitor. “He paints religious pictures mostly, I think. Isn't ita And the dishes all move on | Madonna that George is’ painting now, Mr. B.?” asked the To the ash-barrel out in the street; old lady, turning to her husband. But, oh, for the sight of my Dresden vase “Yes,” said the old man, “it’s a Madonna—a prima As it stood on the window seat! donna.” comicbooks.com