Life, 1910-01-20 · page 23 of 36
Life — January 20, 1910 — page 23: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page features a humorous poem cataloging an idealized young woman's physical features in exaggerated, whimsical language. The poet systematically describes her eyes, hair, nose, mouth, chin, ears, and finally her personality—each section employing absurdist rhyming coinages ("tendrilly-curlative," "melliferous"). **The satire**: The poem gently mocks both Victorian courtship conventions and flowery romantic poetry by taking descriptive excess to absurd extremes. Rather than sincere tribute, the inventory becomes comedic through its mechanical progression and invented adjectives. **The accompanying cartoon** (upper left) shows a caricatured woman in fashionable dress, likely illustrating the "dear little maid" described. The caption "If stylish for a horse, why not for a man?" suggests a separate, unrelated joke about fashion applying equally to both sexes. **The photograph** below depicts what appears to be a formal social gathering or debate, captioned "Subject for Debate: Is Virtue Its Own Reward?"—possibly illustrating societal questions about feminine virtue, or functioning as independent editorial content.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
IF STYLISI FOR A HOKSE, A MAN? only boundary to syr arting point WHY NOT FOR pathy is its *LIFE* 135 This Is She Y order that must be obcyed I sing of a dear little maid; A mirthfully serious, Sober, delirious, Gently imperious Maid. And first we'll consider her eyes (Alike as to color and size) ; Her winkable, blinkable, Merrily twinkable, Simply unthinkable Eyes. Then, having a moment to spare, We turn our attention to hair; Her tendrilly-curlative, Tumbly-and-whirlative, Super-superlative, Hair Forbear to dismiss with a shrug Her nose, undeniably pug ;— Her strictly permissible, Turn-up-like-thisable, Urgently kissable Pug. SUBJECT FOR DEBATE IS VIRTUE ITS OWN REWARD? Now, moving a point to the south, We come to an Actual Mouth; A coral, pearliferous, Argumentiferous, Mainly melliferous Mouth Observe, underneath it, a chin, Connoting the dimple within; A steady, reliable, Hardly defiable, True, undeniable Chin. By all that is fair! it appears We'd almost forgotten her ears! Those never neglectable, Tinted, delectable, Highly. repsectable ars! And last let us speak of herself, That blithe little gipsy and elf, Her quite unignorable, Absence-deplorable, Wholly adorable, Self Arthur Guiterman. comicbooks.com