Life, 1903-08-06 · page 14 of 32
Life — August 6, 1903 — page 14: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page presents a humorous poem by Frank Roe Batchelder about a timid musician attempting to court a woman. The text uses musical notation symbols as visual puns filling blank spaces—a clever conceit matching the musical theme. The poem satirizes Victorian courtship conventions: the speaker is paralyzed by indecision, afraid to declare his feelings directly, worried about rejection, and ultimately settling on expressing his love through verse (the poem itself) as the safest approach. The accompanying illustration shows a woman in classical dress in a romantic landscape setting—the idealized "summer idol" of his affections. The humor targets masculine hesitation and the elaborate social rituals surrounding romance in the era. The musical attribution to "D. Cupid" (the Roman god of love) is a playful signature. This reflects Life magazine's typical satirical treatment of upper-class romantic anxieties and social pretension.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“THs 18 A Comino nome, “TLL ADMIT, MY Love, 1 UAVE MADE A DAY or it.” The Musician's Proposal. My summer idol is a belle Whose pastime is to Her beaux, of whom s! Assortinent on her f Hence is my difidence a To wooing, yet I burn With hope, and pray that from afar My love she may re~. I dream that I may yet em} Her slender waist, and > Her hand, while setting forth my case In fervent words and bold. Yet, though my passion knows no 4 Ihave not dared = =4 My thoughts within her hearing, lest Discouragement I meet. I might avow them in a _J, But I'm too $ for that,— She might not answer, if I wrote, And that would knock me 8. But in the good old summer-=3= It's 2 to propose In verse, and so I trust this rhyme The incident will =] Frank Roe Batchedder, D. Cupid. ALLEGRO—GIOCOSO. Op. 1002. comicbooks.com