Life, 1897-11-04 · page 3 of 20
Life — November 4, 1897 — page 3: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# "Life" Magazine Page 367 Analysis This page contains two distinct elements: **The Cartoon ("The New Addition"):** Four figures in formal Edwardian dress illustrate a caption about needing "a new house" due to "recent increase in my family." The joke plays on the double meaning—it suggests either a new child or a new in-law ("son-in-law"), implying that marriage expansions create housing pressures. This reflects early 20th-century social anxieties about growing families and domestic space. **"The Song of the Jellyfish":** Below is a humorous poem by Farett Kelby personifying a jellyfish's existence—its boneless form, simple structure, and mindless existence. The satirical point appears to mock simple, unthinking life or possibly critique human complacency by comparing people to jellyfish. The tone is whimsical rather than biting.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
THE NEW ADDITION. “OWING TO THE RECENT INCREASE IN MY FAMILY, | HAVE HAD TO TAKE A NEW HOUSE." “BOY OR GIRL “SON = IN = LAW," The Song of the Jellyfish. S the waves slip over my cuticle But I'mbappyinhavingnobonestobreak At night when I slide on the sandy beach sleek In my unctuous, wavering form, And the moonbeams pierce me through, They tickle my soul with glee, And I haven't a trace—nor indeed any ‘The tears arise in my gelatine cyes And I shake with a visceral, saccharine place And I gurgle a sob or two. joy For the dangerous vermiform. For I wonder—ah, me!—in the time In the place where my ribs should be. For I’m built on the strictest econ- to come, For I'm simply a lump of limpid omy plan When the days are no longer lard, And the model was made ina rush, young, With a gluey sort of a wish While essaying to think almost What fish’s digestion will suffer To pass my time in the oozing slime— drives me to drink, congestion In the home of the jellyfish. For I'm simply a mass of mush. When the end of my song is sung. Jarvis Keiley. Comicbooks.com