Life, 1896-05-07 · page 3 of 20
Life — May 7, 1896 — page 3: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis of Life Magazine Page (Volume XXVIII, No. 697) The page contains two distinct pieces: **"The Grammatical Clerk"** (top illustration): A humorous hotel scene where a clerk tells a guest "No. You'll have to bathe yourself" in response to a request for "a room and a bath." The joke plays on the ambiguous phrasing—the guest likely meant a room *with* a bath (bathroom), but the clerk interprets it literally as needing personal bathing assistance, which he refuses. **"A Post-Nuptial Reverie"** (bottom): A poem by Roy Farrell Greene about wedding-night emotional complexity. The speaker describes witnessing his bride's joy while admitting jealous, possessive feelings—a satirical commentary on male insecurity and the tension between romantic idealization and marital reality. The page is primarily literary/humorous commentary rather than political satire.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
VOLUME XXVIL. ° L | k k ° NUMBER 697. — <= THE GRAMMATICAL CLERK. “CAN YOU GIVE ME A ROOM AND A BATH?” “No, You'LL HAVE TO BATHE YOURSELF.” A POST-NUPTIAL REVERIE. HE wedding, last night, was a royal affair, To Nellie, and yet a grim sense of unrest According to all of the papers, The whole of the evening enthralled me; The perfume of flowers afloat in the air, My senses went whirling, my heart was distressed, The mellowing light of the tapers, ~ The scene at the altar appalled me. And Nellie leaned proud on the arm, so they say, Of papa, clear up to the altar, Repeating the vows in a confident way, With no inclination to falter. It seemed that I lived through a troublesome dream, E’en Nellie was thrilled with emotion, Ionce caught her eye and its sparkle and gleam Seemed soft in its sense of devotion. The bridesmaids arrayed in their virginal white, The crowd lingered late, all their homage to pay, Were symphony’s sweetest creations, And yet even longer I tarried. The music soared up to the regions of light I jealously wanted to steal her away, As though it were Heaven's oblations Since I was the fellow she married. Roy Farrell Greene. A CAT MAY LOOK AT A KING.