Life, 1914-10-29 · page 14 of 44
Life — October 29, 1914 — page 14: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains literary and theatrical content rather than political satire. "Old Ghosts" is a poem by Kate Masterson about Washington Square's romantic past and nostalgic memories. The illustrations appear to be literary sketches: one shows a classical scene (labeled "Semper Idem") with Antony and Cleopatra, illustrating a brief dramatic dialogue about Cleopatra's appearance; another depicts Methuselah refusing to allow his daughter's marriage until she reaches "the age of discretion"; and a final illustration shows an abandoned farm gate labeled "Eden." The page is primarily a mixture of romantic poetry and classical literary/theatrical references rather than contemporary political commentary. The "Not a Market" section discusses Wall Street's economic conditions in what appears to be post-market-crash commentary.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
‘LIFE: Old Ghosts Not a Market ‘ALL STREET is not a market. If it had been a market, it would not have closed. One of the essentials of a market is that it should be open—the opener the better. Since the war began, not only have When the dawn drift the Eastward is misting. all real [markets gone. on doing (business, bat ‘new ones ? . 3 me y have been started. Wall Street alone put up its shutters. When ‘the night folds its) wings in the Park, Here is an economic fact to be pondered carefully. It When the stars in their glory are listing begins to look as if Wall Street’s disguise has finally And the Cross shines out clear through the dark; been penctrated and her pretensions punctured. Then out from your doors of old fashions, Where lilacs and hyacinths grow, Come the loves and the lavender passions, The ghosts of the sweet long ago. H, Washington Square, in your beauty And the lazuli blue of your sky, You win us from work and from duty To rest as the busses go by. In the dusk of a garden they're meeting A girl with a rose in her hair, ‘And he kisses her hand as a greeting, The sweethearts of Washington Square. The Here and the Now is about us, With suffragists leading us on, With ethics eugenic to rout us— And Romance, they tell us, is gone. But a magic steals up from the city, Through the twilight and soft Summer rain, As an organ thrills out an old ditty You feel the quick pulse once again; Blue eyes look in yours through the ages (That lazuli blue of the sky), And you turn the book back to the pages Where the musk and the rosemary lie, Old loves and old songs and old laces And a girl with a rose in her hair, Snape ioe The ghosts of forgotten embraces, ‘Are walking in Washington Square. Antony: COME, CLEOPATRA, THE BARGE IS WAITING Kate Masterson. Cleopatra: WELL, LET 1T WAIT. I SIMPLY CAN NOT MAKE 7 : MY HAIR LOOK RIGHT “4 aie SS zen (FX: ~ IMASfacking ES boyal Methuselah: No, stR; YOU CAN'T HAVE MY DAUGHTER. SHE'S ONLY ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTREN, AND I PROMISED HER MOTHER I'D SEE SHE DIDN'T MARRY UNTIL SHE REACHED THE AGE OF DISCRETION THE FIRST ABANDONED FARM comicbooks.com