Life, 1913-01-16 · page 13 of 40
Life — January 16, 1913 — page 13: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page presents a nonsense poem titled "Operawocky"—a parody of Lewis Carroll's "Jabberwocky" applied to opera. The left illustration labeled "January and December" depicts a man holding an infant, drawn by Paul Dandal (signed lower left). The right illustration, "Close Harmony," shows a boy with a dog. The poem mocks operatic conventions: cryptic Germanic character names ("schumanheink," "marygarden"), exaggerated vocal techniques ("gluck and gadski"), and the genre's typical absurdity. By applying Carroll's nonsense structure to opera, the satire suggests that opera itself—with its incomprehensible plots and artificial dramatics—is already nonsensical. This was likely an appeal to American readers skeptical of highbrow European art forms.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
157 Operawocky T” AS sembrich, and the emma Did gluck and gadski in farrar; All scotti were the tetrazzines, And the jadlowkers nordica. ames “Beware the schumanheink, my son! The weils that catch, the teytes that bite! Beware the fornia, and shun The marygarden night!” He took his slezak sword in hand: Long time the bonci foe he sought. So rested he by the fremstad tree, And stood awhile in thought And as in rappold thought he stood, The schumanheink with cyes of flame, Came burrian through the griswold wood, And hinshawed as it came! One, two! One, two! And through and through The slezak blade went snicker snack! He left it dead and with its head He segurolaed. back. “And hast thou slain the schumanheink? Come to my arms, my destin boy! Caruso day! ruffo! calvé! He melbaed in his joy. 'Twas sembrich, and the emmacames Did gluck and gadski in farrar; All scotti were the tetrazzines, And the jadlowkers nordica. Kenneth F. H. Underwood. JANUARY AND DECEMBER CLOSE HARMONY comicbooks.com