Life — February 8, 1912 — page 7: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# "Ballade of the Two Heart Bid" - Explanation This page from *Life* magazine features a poem by Carolyn Wells accompanying an illustration. The poem describes a young woman at an "Auction Bridge" card game (a popular early 20th-century parlor game). While playing cards with elderly aunts and a grandmother, her mind wanders to thoughts of a romantic "Prince" in distant, unmapped lands. The satire contrasts the mundane social obligation of card-playing with society aunts against the narrator's secret romantic fantasies. The repeated refrain "Two Hearts" suggests divided loyalty—outwardly conforming to proper social conventions while inwardly yearning for love and adventure. The illustration shows women gathered around a card table, capturing this tension between surface propriety and hidden desire.