Life, 1909-07-01 · page 35 of 44
Life — July 1, 1909 — page 35: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This humorous poem mocks the romantic ideal of courtship through physical labor. A suitor recites poetry to woo "Maude" in her garden, but she immediately puts him to work—pulling weeds, planting vegetables, fixing fences, and performing grueling manual tasks for hours. The poem's joke is that the poet's romantic declarations ("Come into the garden, Maude") are replaced by backbreaking work, transforming him from lover to laborer. The satire targets Victorian courtship conventions, suggesting that romantic gestures mask exploitation. By the poem's end, the man is so exhausted and frustrated he abandons poetry for angry cursing—his idealism destroyed by Maude's relentless demands. The page also features period advertisements (Gillette razors, Pond's Extract), reflecting early 20th-century *Life* magazine's mix of satire and commercial content.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
BETTER ‘STOLEN “RAD-BRIDGE = ‘Witte stole a keg of powder, jast to make the rackst louder, it made a poise, It pleased the boys, Winie «pow an angel chowder, Maude and Her Garden “Come into the garden, Maude,"" sang he, For he was much given to poetree; And then Maude came, and since that time He speaks in prose and forsakes all rhyme— ‘or Maude looked around that garden fair And kept him working ten hours there. ¢ made him pull forty pecks of weeds She made him plant all her cabbage seeds She made him hoe Row after row Of “tater hills—two dozen or so. She made him hitch up the garden hose And water an acre of sweet-pea blows. She made him take Her brand-new rake And scrape till his spine bade fair to break Despite his moans And his awful groans, She made him gather five barrels of stone, And squirt the patent old spouting-machine That kills off the bugs with paris green. She made him fix Seven dozen sticks With netting to keep out the neighbor's chicks, And mend the leak in the fountain pipe, And taste a tomato that wasn't ripe. Gillette Safety Razor T is a fact that a man whose face will not stand the ordinary razor oftener than twice a week can shave every morning with the Gillette—and easily—no roughness, no irrita- tion of the skin, even over the sensitive places on the neck or under the chin. There is no stropping or honing with a Gillette. It is the one safe razor and the only razor that can be adapted for a light or close shave. The time to buy a Gillette is now. It pays for itself in three months and it lasts a lifetime. The Gillette, illustrated herewith (actual size), is so compact That an clephant might have been planted that it can be carried in the Pocket or slipped in the side of a there, traveling ba; It comes in gold, silver or gun metal—with While she bossed the job fro: swinging handle and Made box to match. The blades are fine. ch é Prices, $5.00 to $7.50. For sale everywhere. She ma nde him tinker the garden wall You should know Gillette Shaving Brush—bristles gripped in hard rubber : And snip the dead wood from a hemlock tall and Gillette Shaving Stick—a soap worthy of the Gillette Safety Razor. Exzare'siontaamase nue, GILLETTE SALES CO. 17 Holborn Vieduct 528 Kimball Building, Boston Factories: Boston, Montreal, London, Berlin, Paris She made him push the lawn-roller about Till his face freckled up like a speckled trout. She made him prune Half the afternoon Till he cussed the Poet that wrote that rune. She made him dig Like a hungry pig A hole so deep. 80 wide and big, She made him mow all the-nice lush lawn, And lay out the lines for ten rows of corn. She made him paint all the latticework, And fill up the holes where the woodchucks lurk, And finished by using his brand-new clo’es ona pole for to scare off crows. And that is the why that I can't rehearse The words that he speaks when he hears that Canadian Ottice @ St Alexander St Montreal ld Gastit, in Harper's Weekly. No Friend Like the Dog Where will you find a man always grateful, always affectionate, never selfish, pushing the abnegation of self to the utmost limits of possi- bility, forgetful of injuries and mindful only of benefits received? Seek him not; it would be a useless task. But take the first dog you meet, and from the moment he adopts you for his master you will find in him all these qualities. He will love you without calculation. His great- est happiness will be to be near you; and should you be reduced to beg your bread, not only will he aid you, but he will not abandon you to follow a king to his palace. Your friends may quit you in misfortune, but your dog will remain; he will dic at your feet, or if you depart before him on the great voyage will accompany you to your last abode.—From “ History of the Dog,” Our Dumb Animals, AFTER SHAVING USE PONDS E) RELI IRRITATION Write for Bootiet Shavins Essential MATION-ASSURES COMFORT. 188 & CO., Sole Agents, New York, N.Y. XTRACT A City Clerk's Garden A city clerk never missed the chance of ex- patiating on his garden to his colleagues, who, however, were never taken home to see it, but were under the impression that it was of enor- mous size. Five of them resolved to have a look at it, discovered his address, and called one Sat- afternoon to see the hundreds of roses all a-growing and a-blowing. On being reluctantly taken to the rear of the house, judge of their surprise on seeing a backyard about 12 feet by ten feet. One bold spirit ventured to remark that it was not very big. “Big!'’ replied the proud owner, pointing to the sky. “Why, man alive, look at the height of it!"’—Chicago Daily Socialist. comicbooks.com