Life, 1901-08-08 · page 7 of 20
Life — August 8, 1901 — page 7: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# "The Blot on Polly's Bonnet" This page features a poem by John B. Hatherm about a small stain on a young woman's bonnet that becomes the subject of intense scrutiny and anxiety. The accompanying illustration shows a Victorian-era couple examining the bonnet closely, with naturalistic details of insects and plants visible through what appears to be magnification. The satire mocks Victorian obsession with appearances and propriety—particularly women's concern with maintaining perfect dress and reputation. The "blot" serves as a metaphor for how minor imperfections or social transgressions were treated as catastrophic in rigid Victorian society. The poem's detailed, overwrought treatment of a trivial stain humorously exaggerates the era's tendency toward social anxiety and superficiality, especially regarding women's public presentation.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
to repairs and rod-making clear and concive. Harper and Brothers. 81.75.) The Crimson Weed, by Christopher St John, treats of the effect upe young man’s mind of finding that he is of iegitimate birth, The first half of the book is inter- and well written, but the balance is cillating and ineffective, (en dd Company.) OTHER BOOKS RECEIVED, ~The Rose of Dawn. By Helen Hay. (RM. tassel.) verses.” By Helen Ite Hamerstey Sticknen. (G. P, Putnam's Sons.) “tn Yellowest Jaunta” By .t Layman. (P. Tennyson Neely Company.) gar Allen Poe" By Col. John A. Joyce. (P. Tennyson Neely Compa: is he Poker Manual." By Templar. (Frederick Warne and Company, London, England.) “Songs from Bohemia * By Daniel O' Connedt. (A, M, Robertson, San Francisco. $1.50.) the Blue and Gold." By Joy Lichtenstein. (A Robertson, San Francisco, “$1.50. “The Ides of March." By Forie Willingham Pickard. (P. Tennyson Neely Company.) The Blot on Polly’s Bonnet. E OW many causes intertwine To make a perfect whole! What wondrous power, what vast design, Must pay its little toll ! No earth attainment now we ser But bears some tribute on it From ev'ry human industry instance, Polly's bonnet She calls ita “creation,” small And simple as can be, And sees no iniracle at all In its simplicity ; But when I try to figure out ‘The things that helped to make it, So fast the pictures crowd about T hate to undertake it. The tip, that little tip that shakes So saucily on high, Was plucked one day, far, far away, Beneath an Afric sky acucer, I sce a lordly ostrich stand y its off ring down, help to make, for Polly's sake, The prettiest hat in town, A Tittle valley next appears, And on the sereen I see Dull peasants toiling through the years, And trees of mulberr; “Tis France, where silkworms live and spin And yield for loom and mat ‘The shining threads that tremble in This simple, little hat. Next, wondrous fields of rustling gold Upon my mem'ry come, ‘The horses tugging through the mold, ‘The reapers’ busy hum ; And skilful hands are plaiting straw, And mystic patterns gleam To make a dainty framework for What Polly calls her dream.” But what is this, with azure wing Upon the sunshine borne ? 1, a beauteous thing, y to the morn ; m bend his graceful head, g blithely by, y in merry play Beneath the summer sky. A shot rings out; the leaden rain Sheds darkness all around, And writhing in its cruel pain, ‘The bird lies on the groun A stream of blood its body yields, It quivers and is still ; And murder stains the yellow fields, And fashion pays the bill. So, suddenly my fancy stays, No beauty can I see ; Gone all the charming daintiness, ‘The sham simplicity ; And Polly's face seems grown less fair Beneath her dainty bonnet, For a little mangled body there Has set death's seal upon it. Joln R. Rathom, comicbooks.com