Life, 1913-05-08 · page 20 of 48
Life — May 8, 1913 — page 20: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains humorous spring-themed poetry mocking contemporary consumer culture and domestic life. The main poem "Spring Song" parodies romantic spring poetry by cataloging mundane modern concerns: influenza, heating systems, German bands, trolleys, oysters, and underwear shopping. It satirizes how commercial interests have displaced traditional poetic sentiments about spring. The two cartoons below offer domestic humor. The left cartoon depicts a marital disagreement over a cat entering/exiting the house—a relatable domestic absurdity. The right cartoon, titled "Holworthy Hall," shows a man addressing a woman about her relatives, with the caption "I married you darling, not all your kin"—mocking in-law complications. Together, the content humorously critiques how modern spring has become less about nature and romance, and more about shopping, gadgets, and domestic irritations.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Spring Song SING to Spring In swift. cadenza I sing the charm of influenza chronic, The lilt of birds harmonic, the iron tonic, The portal pillars, post-Ionic, to be varnished ; The soft turf rising at the finish of the full St. Andrew's swing, The locus of the crocus and the flash of robin's wing, FPS" And the fittings of the tonneau sadly oa tarnished. I sing of joys diurnal, of the early vernal brand, The last divine afllatus of the heating apparatus, And the posse comitatus that is called a German band, And the jolly open trolley car of sprin; Let no song of mine poetic touch a subj Let my fountain-pen esthetic scroll a song of sweeter t dietetic, strain; ‘or the cloister of the deep takes the oyster in its keep, And we'll have no Blue Point cocktail till September cc again, And the Camembert is soft when the bluebird soars aloft, And the terrapin has sung himself to sleep. nes, 1 HEAR PUSSY MEWING TO GET IN.” IT, MARY! 1 JUST LET THE BRUTE “ yous, “WANG IN.” “WELL, THEN, SHE'S MEWING TO GeT OUT. “LIFE: Let me sing of other fare, Such as light-weight underwear, Let me hymn my lady slim when tracking bargains to their lair. In the spring, the young man’s fancy—'tis no poet's necromancy, This is fact; and if you glance, he'll prove the truth be- yond compare; Now he prices low-cut bootings and the most exclusive suitings, In the spring, the young man’s fancy—he’s a bear! I sing to Spring A brief extravaganza in a pretty lyric stanza Well befitting Wagner's hitting and suburban out-door knitting And the men of leisure sitting on the benches in the park: And the welcome thirst arising from clectric advertising After dark, And the scent unsung by Homer—that intoxicant aroma When the bulbs are sunk in loam, and set in rows with shingle mark, And the weather commentators, And the silent radiators, And the spring-poem expurgators— These I sing. Holworthy Hall. “T MARRIED YOU DARLING, NOT ALL YOUR KIN” comicbooks.com