Life — March 29, 1888 — page 7: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

- LIFE: by real tears. The existence of real tears, even among in- telligent people, is a physical fact which, we believe, has not yet been disputed by the realists. * * * U is a hard thing to write vers de socéété with just the right touch; to be humorous and not frivolous, witty and not flippant, satirical and not heartless. And it seems equally hard to write such verses now and not put them into the artificial French forms of ballade, rondeau, or triolet. That is why one should prefer Locker, Thackeray and Cal- verley to Dobson, Lang and W. E. Henley; and, to come to our own country, that is why one should like E. S. Martin’s “A Little Brother of the Rich” (Mitchell & Miller). It isa modest little book, which does not ask comparison with either Thackeray or Dobson. But it has the right qualities, 179 and its humor and satire veil lightly a good deal of fine feel- ing and right workable philosophy. A clever man can put a heap of sad experience in a jest. The merit of these verses is that their author has chosen the right word for every part of the line and has not made the rhymes carry the weight of the poem. This is a harder feat than most of our rondeau writers imagine. The poems in this volume which the reader will oftenest turn to are “Crumbs and Comfort,” “ Ashore,” “ Mixed,” “Mea Culpa” and “ What He Wants in His,” ending— “ [have no wail for all the years I've lived on crusts washed down with tears. If I must drain the bitter cup ‘As heretofore, why—fill it up! But when my cake, if ever, comes, Vouchsafe it to me full of plums.” THE LATEST THING IN FADS. Mrs. G. Panhandel Lightweight. FRripay EVENINGS IN APRIL. SPARRING AT 10,30. HE ARCHITECT (¢o his rustic draughtsman): Mr. Smith, I'm afraid all these measurements were taken by eye, were they not? MR. SMITH (astonished at his employ- er's grammar): Oh no, sir; I assure you that you're not responsible for any of them. ee THE wasp has one strong point, but it is not in his favor. CHARITY covereth a multitude of skins. A HEAVY BANK DEPOSIT. ON THE RIALTO. IRST ACTOR: I heard from Ham to-day. He is on his way home from the West. SECOND AcTorR: How soon do you expect him ? First AcTor: He wrote me that he would leave Albany this morning vza the West Shore line. He ought to get in some time to-morrow night if it doesn’t rain. comicbooks.com