Life, 1913-03-27 · page 19 of 60
Life — March 27, 1913 — page 19: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page combines satirical poetry with humorous illustrations typical of early 20th-century Life magazine. **Top cartoon**: "Why Not Truthful Epitaphs?" shows a cemetery with gravestones bearing the names of literary and cultural figures (partially legible). The heading suggests satire about dishonest commemorations—mocking how epitaphs typically flatter the deceased rather than honestly assess their lives. **"The Unbeliever"**: A poem by Leolyn Louise Everett presenting an existential, pessimistic worldview—life as suffering with fleeting happiness, suggesting skepticism about conventional values. **"Too Hasty"**: A two-panel joke where a buying agent pitches a Shakespeare first edition as a lifetime opportunity, but the prospect (Mr. Richuguicke) dismissively refuses anything "meager and unreliable." The accompanying illustration shows a father exercising vigorously while his daughter entertains a suitor—implying the father's obliviousness to propriety creates chaos. The satire targets both pretension (rare book dealing) and middle-class domestic absurdity.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
WHY NOT TRUTHFUL EPITAPHS? The Unbeliever TAKE this thing called Life between my hands And grant its agony and grant its tears, And wonder to what farther, stranger lands My destiny will lead me thro’ the years. The fantasy called happiness is fleet, For far have I pursued her flying feet On—on where dusty cross-roads pause and meet— In hot remembrance that the dream was sweet. Yet of the bauble thing that bids me rise I hold it scarce of value to redeem Tho’ I have seen the shining, open skies How strange! reflected in it gleam for gleam! Leolyn Louise Everett. Too Hasty IS BUYING AGENT: I tell you, this is the chance of a lifetime—a first edition of Shakespeare. Mr. Ricuguicke: I don’t want anything as meager and PAPA, TAKING HIS “ AID TO DIGESTION” EXERCISE, FORGOT unreliable as that. SALLY WAS ENTERTAIN A BEAU comicbooks.com