Life — October 28, 1915 — page 21: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This page satirizes the human cost of war on ordinary soldiers and the poor. The cartoon shows a ragged tramp encountering a similarly destitute soldier, both begging for pennies. The accompanying text is a dark parody of Psalm 23, rewritten as a "Psalm of War" where the "War Lord" replaces God as a malevolent shepherd. Instead of comfort and provision, the War Lord offers trenches, combat, poverty, and endless suffering. The satire suggests that soldiers sacrifice their lives and health for leaders' ambitions, only to return home impoverished and broken. By pairing the soldier-beggar with the civilian tramp, the cartoon implies war creates widespread destitution. The "Psalm of War" emphasizes the bitter irony: soldiers who survive combat gain nothing—no wealth, no security, only continued hardship and "tyranny and taxes." This appears to be anti-war commentary, likely from WWI-era Life magazine, criticizing how war benefits leaders while destroying the lives of common people.