Life, 1913-05-22 · page 15 of 48
Life — May 22, 1913 — page 15: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains three satirical pieces: 1. **"A Poet's Passionate Address to S"**: A parody of overwrought Romantic poetry that obsessively celebrates the letter "S" through alliteration and flowery language ("sibilance," "sibyl-song," "susurrating"). The joke is the absurd pretension of treating a single letter as profoundly moving. 2. **"Hazardous"**: Dark social commentary on child labor. An employer of children dismisses the need for old-age pensions because child workers don't survive to old age—a grim indictment of exploitative labor practices in the early 20th century. 3. **"The Home"**: Humorous anthropological description of a house as if it were an ancient artifact, mocking both stuffy historical writing and contemporary domestic life. The final joke about men and women being unable to live together more than two years satirizes marriage. The page also contains a visual rebus puzzle and references Emily (likely from the "Sole Survivor" cartoon about posting letters).
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
-LIFE- 1023 A Poet's Passionate Address to S THERE'S such a something in the letter So sinuous and slithy, and so slim! Such sibilance that sets my soul aswim With sibyl-song as soft as a caress. Like soughing whispers of the wilderness In sound's subsurfaces it seems to skim; Or now the swash of sea-waves harsh and grim It simulates with sensuous success. But whatsoe’er its moods it surely chimes Upon my sentient ear with secret And swirls and sobs in susurrating rhymes That rouse my sated sensate self to this; It sings so sweet a solace that oft-times I seek some silent spot and sit and hiss. Hazardous = HY don't you establish old-age pensions?” asked the welfare worker. “Don't need 'em,” replied the employer of child labor. “Our hands never live to old age.” Sole Survivor: Goov vorp! HERE'S THAT LETTER EMILY GAVE ME TO PposT! (if we may place any reliance upon the records) moved in rewards from the sufferers for doing this, but he actually high society. I now take pleasure in showing you Tne Home—This peculiar looking place—cluttered, as you see, with an odd array of certain material, which was termed “ jurniture--was employed as a place of shelter | for our ancestors, and it is even said that men and women lived in it upon terms of comparative comfort, although | this latter theory is very much to be doubted : the idea that any man can live more than two years with any woman “YES, CHARL i having long since been successfully exploded. “ MOTHER WON'T STAND FOR IT, I TELL you!” | j | ] ry ) ts, GP q =A f vA): 8 ‘nwa \)fI Saet—\ } 5 (y x THE ANSWER TO THIS RESUS WILL BE PUBLISHED IN NEXT WEEK'S LIFE AD wanes Answer to last week's rebus: A Boston Child Prodigy Reads Greek and Latin and Speaks English, French and German on His First Birthday comicbooks.com