Life, 1905-04-13 · page 13 of 22
Life — April 13, 1905 — page 13: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This poem by Sarah Noble-Ives satirizes the pretensions of African American self-education through phonetic dialect writing. The speaker, rendered in exaggerated Black vernacular, claims to study Shakespeare during winter evenings by firelight—a marker of self-improvement and gentility. The satire operates on multiple levels: it mocks both the speaker's garbled comprehension of Shakespeare's plots (confusing characters, mangling titles like "Hamlick's paw" for Hamlet) and, implicitly, the condescension of educated whites who find such efforts laughable. The punchline—that the speaker identifies most with Othello "because Othello, he was mos' ez brack ez me"—undercuts any genuine appreciation while reducing the tragedy to racial identity alone. This reflects early 20th-century attitudes: simultaneously mocking working-class/Black aspirations toward "high culture" while the dialect writing itself embodies racist caricature conventions of the era.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
BIEN) el Bo The Higher Education. Ww" de nights is growin’ lengthier an’ colder, An’ de pine-knot in de bottle’s buhnin’ bright, I git out dat leetle book ob Mistah Shakespeah’s, An’ spell dem writin’s out mos’ eb'ry night. Dey is plays about de ghos'es an’ de witches, An’ mos’ eb'ry kin’ o' spook you eber saw, An’ de shibbers crinkle up ma spinal comma When I read about dat ghos' ob Hamlick’s paw. But de play I lub de bes’ is ‘bout dat feller Wat took his wife an’ smoddered her to def Wif de fedder-bed an’ pillers an’ de bolster, Till pore Disdemony died fob lack ob bref, Some dose plays dey treats ob lub, an‘ some ob murders ; Dey's a man what clumb one night up July's wall, Dey’sS a Jew what cut his heart out wif a razor, An’ a king what had six wibes an’ kilt ‘em all: Dey’s anoder king what fit wif all his daug Becase dey wouldn't let him be de boss ; An’ a coon dat murdahed all his poh relations, An’ hollered out, ‘! My kingdom foh a hoss,” Oh, de biggest man alibe is Mistah Shakespeah, An’ his plays jes’ suit dis niggah toa T; But de bestes’ ob ‘em all is ‘bout Othello, Kase Othello, he was mos’ ez brack ez me Sarah Noble-Ives. to refuse the pennies which they have saved through the week and which they are anxious to spend for tickets to the edu of for candy, t ettes. There is this much LIFES. ; FIDENTIAL GUIDE builder of : ATRE, ng success, but as a laugh- Tey to be said for mmerstein — theatres he may not be a maker he is all right. The Darling of the of impressive Japanese tra y of Music. Blanche Rates starring in . Original Belasco sevti JxPTHOUGH Maurice Barry from public notice, the emory, and to a large number of ta Mrs. Carte! a." Poetical tragedy adm ore had long been absent 4.4 01a ws of his death brought to Phe Music Master.” A thoroughly human play, carefully cast mind many an eeable ted with unusual finish, persons a feeling of personal loss. . « * J* will be interesting to note whet Messrs. Klaw and will follow the example of the late Augustin Daly and close Daly’s Theatre on the evening of Good Fri- it When Mr. Daniel Frohman, who stands for all t gentlemanly, and cultured, and refined in the Th i Managers’ Association, became the lessee of Daly's, he fol- lowed the example of his lamented predecessor. On Good Friday evening Mr. Frohman closed the theatre, thereby showing an unusual generosity and a fine sense of propri- ety. Having received a liberal cash guarantee, he played the company in Hartford that evening, and was able to bring them back to New York in time for the Saturday matinée. Metcalfe. Colonial. Interesting vaudeville. ric. — Fantana."” Comic opera of the usual type, well staged re—"* Mrs. Temple's Telegram." Farcical comed n Square Garden.—Rarnum and Bailey's Circus co! megatherian in its multiple and multifarious miracles and marvels. Manhattan.—Last week of Mrs. Fiske and her exc ng play entitled “Leah Klesch nt company in Mr, theatre-goer of in. iss seeing this unusually ace. OWING TO THE FACT THAT THE POLLOWING THEATRES ARE UNDER THE CONTROL OF THE THEATRICAL TRUST, WHICH IS ATTEMPTID TO SUPPR CRITICISM, L! e IS UNABLE TO DESCRIBE THE PERFORMANCES THEY OFFER : Amsterdam. — Knickerbocker. Criterion, Garden, arvick, Empire. Lyceum, York Majestic Hudson, Herald Square. Wallack': comicbooks.com