Life, 1889-12-19 · page 9 of 18
Life — December 19, 1889 — page 9: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# "A Proposal" - Life Magazine Illustration This page features a romantic poem titled "A Proposal" accompanied by decorative art nouveau styling. The illustration depicts a cherub or cupid figure juggling hearts while floating above ornamental scrollwork and roses, establishing a romantic theme. The poem narrates a theatrical proposal scene: the narrator and his companion attended a play with melancholic music that moved her to tears. Afterward, he proposed marriage, asking "Let's try," to which she agreed. The text emphasizes emotional vulnerability—her tears, his embarrassment, and their tentative commitment ("I wonder if 'tis really so!"). This represents typical Life magazine content: sentimental, comedic romantic literature paired with whimsical illustration, appealing to early 20th-century audiences' taste for both sentiment and gentle mockery of courtship rituals.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
A PROPOSAL. HE orchestra, the acts between, Was playing a narcotic waltz To match a melancholy scene Necessitating smelling-salts ; And she who sat beside me kept Succumbing to a gradual grief Until it seemed she must have wept The total of one handkerchief. Too overwhelmed was I to speak, Nor could I think what thing to say While down the rose path of her cheek The salt tears took their sinuous way : I felt somewhat embarrassed, and Considered silence might be best, Since 1 could never understand Just why her heart was so distressed. The curtain fell; the play was done; A hackneyed galop smote our ears; And she, my sweetheart, simpleton, Emerged from her salt sea of tears And said: ** Love is so sweet in plays, I wonder if ‘tis really so!” At last had come my day of days! “Let's try," I said, *‘and we shall know,” « comicbooks.com