Life, 1915-12-09 · page 19 of 48
Life — December 9, 1915 — page 19: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes early 20th-century modernist poetry movements. The main poem mocks the shift from traditional verse (represented by the old horse "Pegasus" and measured meters) to free verse and experimental forms championed by contemporary poets like **Walt Whitman, Amy Lowell, and Edgar Lee Masters** (referenced by name). The satire uses an extended metaphor: traditional poetry is a reliable horse; modern poetry is a sputtering automobile with a "skipping carburetor" and stalled motor—unreliable and undignified. The poet ironically admits that despite rejecting rhyme and meter, he keeps "falling into rhyme," suggesting modernism cannot fully escape its poetic roots. A secondary item jokes that Europeans hate Americans but lack sufficient antipathy to concentrate it all on export—dark humor about post-WWI transatlantic tension.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
The New Poetry LD Pegasus— Dear steed that erstwhile loped along To measured meters— Back to your stall Betake your rhythmic hoofs. No more the frenzied poet spurs thee on, Chasing coy rhyme. No more in tuneful cadence, Syncopated, Do versifiers sing their lays. The modern poet's car comes halting on Jerkil; With skipping carburetor. Walt Whitman,— Thy “good gray” shade May well rejoice! These brand-new poctasters— Lindsay and Amy Lowell, Mr. Mas- ters— Echo thy voice. But hold! My clutch is slipping— These lines begin to scan— My speedométer Marks measured time ;— I'm falling into rhyme. ‘Tis easier to climb the slope Parnas- sus On loping Pegasus than in a limping chassis. There! My motor'’s stalled! Hark, stableward I hear a distant neigh, Husky, ironic. 'Tis time to stop. Jennie Betts Hartswick. Not Hated to Hurt R. CHOATE and other high au- thorities agree that everyone in Europe now hates the Americans. That is bad, but not so bad as if Europe was better able to concentrate her antipathy. As it is, the local de- mand for dislikes in Europe pretty well consumes the supply, and all there is left for export is a mere sample. In a Nut-shell Is Dame Nature a suffragist? —N. Y. Times. HAT'S the question; the whole question. SE lawuun “WHY ARE YOU CRYING, LITTLE Boy?” S'POSIN’ TWAS "WAY UP ON TOP OF THAT G-BUILDIN’ WITHOUT comicbooks.com