Life, 1902-06-26 · page 9 of 31
Life — June 26, 1902 — page 9: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page from *Life* magazine (page 549) contains a romantic poem titled "To the Fiancée" paired with an elegant illustration of a woman in flowing drapery. The poem celebrates feminine beauty and grace, using moon and blossom imagery as poetic devices. Below this is a section called "Modern Examples," which presents mathematical word problems—apparently satirizing the contrast between romantic idealization and practical reality. The problems address mundane domestic concerns (bathing suits, wedding presents, brain cell percentages) in dry, technical language. The satire appears to mock the gap between sentimental Victorian romance and modern life's unglamorous realities. The juxtaposition suggests *Life's* critique of overly romantic sentimentality in contemporary culture, replacing flowery verse with cold arithmetic about everyday married life.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
- LIFE: 549 To the Fiancée. HITE MOON slipping from a cloud On the edge of night, Somewhat haughty, cold and proud, Wonderfully white! Such, my dear, you look to me, So austere you seem to be In your flowing drapery ; Dream of my delight! Blossom peering from the vine, Perfect in its grace, Much too beautiful and fine For the garden place ! Such I call you, standing there Straight and tall, divinely fair, With the shadows in your hair, Sunshine in your face. Moon and Blossom—these will do For a poet's part ; Either metaphor is true And belongs to Art. So I toss this rhyme in June; Orange Blossoms coming soon, Then, at last, the Honeymoon : Bring them both, Sweetheart ! Faiz Carmen, Modern Examples. THE total caer) displacement of a girl weighing one hundred and twelve pounds fs seven cubic feet and three inches, bat with her bathing suit it Is neven cubic feet, two and one-half inches. How many bathing sults would she have to wear to bring her displacement up to eight cubic feet? For every one hundred wedding invitations sent out by ayoung woman whose parents are worth one hundred thousand dollars, the net result is eighteen wedding presents, But for every one hundred invitations sent out by @ young woman whose parents are worth five hundred thousand dollars, thenet result ts forty presents, How many presents would be received by @ young woman whose parents are worth thirty cents? The total number of gangitonic cells in the brain of an actress ts four hundred and elghty-three. Of these, fifty per cent, are clothes cells, fifty per cent, of the remainder are self cells, and after de- ducting ore hundred for vart- ous purposes, the one-thou- eandth fart of what ts left 1s devoted to acting. How many acting gangil- onic cells are actually in 2 use? PHILOSO- ~* PHER, my son, is a man who has trained himself to bear with equanimity the mis- fortunes of other men. “ Straight and tall, divinely fatr.”