Life, 1894-07-19 · page 12 of 16
Life — July 19, 1894 — page 12: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis This page contains a romantic poem titled "To ——" from *Life* magazine, illustrated with period sketches of fashionable figures at a social gathering. The poem describes a gentleman finding a yellow silk item (likely a garter or hair ribbon—the dash obscures the word) at a ball. He's amused that English propriety prevents him from naming it directly, then returns it anonymously with roses to the woman he deduces it belongs to, having watched her blush when she realized the loss. The satire targets **Victorian sexual prudishness**—the elaborate euphemism and coyness required to discuss even innocent intimate accessories. The joke is that the unnamed object's identity is obvious to readers despite the narrator's delicate evasion ("England's motto" may reference discretion as a national trait). The accompanying illustrations show the fashionable world where such incidents occur, reinforcing the mockery of upper-class social conventions and the performative modesty that governs courtship.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Sata ball. In vain I tried To feel less like a social martyr, When, lying on the floor I spied A thing of yellow silk—a—! I put a dash there, for ‘tis said To write it plainly out amiss is ; Yet England's motto may be read Upon just such a thing as this is. I stoop’d, and hid it in my hand, And wonder'd who might be the loser. She could not ask me for the band! How such a question would confuse her ! Returning with it to my place, I wonder'd if my cheek were flushing ; In turn I scann’d each lovely face, Until I saw how you were blushing ! My own perception I had wrong'd— ‘To think that I would not have known her, To whom this dainty band belong’d ; No one but you could be the owner. So thus I send it back to you, Around this bunch of blushing roses ! One found it whom you never knew ; Whose name no hint of mine discloses. comicbooks.com