Life, 1913-05-29 · page 7 of 44
Life — May 29, 1913 — page 7: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page features a poem by Francis B. Keene titled "Wild Wanderings" that appears to be **satirical verse about Maine geography and Native American place names**. The poem addresses a "Lady of the Aroostook" and catalogs Maine locations—Squapawpan, Mattawamkeag, Passamekeag, Kennebec—with humorously unpronounceable Indigenous names. The text playfully suggests these names are obstacles to civilization ("No civilization deterrent / Shall keep us from Carratunk town"). The accompanying illustration depicts what appears to be **a fortune teller or soothsayer scene**, likely suggesting the absurdity of trying to navigate or predict outcomes in a landscape with such bewildering place names. The satire mocks both the difficulty of Maine's Native American nomenclature and, implicitly, the challenge of settling or understanding such territories.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
rom EAR"Lady of the Aroostool Wilt come in my birchbark with me? I'm off in the wilds of Seboomook, And yearning to wander with thee \ word, and Katahdin. shall listen, Chesuncook its echoes shall shake, And Spurdnabunk’s ripples shall glis- ten, And Matagamonsis awake Wild Wanderings On Squawpan we'll dream as we pad- dle. Unsumtalum’s shadows, deep-sunk, Shall cool us; our thoughts shall not addle, Not even on Matchunkemunk Far Chemquasabamticook’s current hall float us to Allegash down. No civilization deterrent Shall keep us from Carratunk town Seboois, and then Mattawamkeag, Shall see us, and Skowhegan too. Pamedecook and Passadumkeag Shall lavish their beauties on you. Cauquomgomoe and Pattagumpus And Moosetocmaguntic we'll win There's nothing in Maine that can stump us Till symptoms of lockjaw set in Francis B. Keene. HISTORY AND FICTION comicbooks.com