Life, 1916-02-24 · page 23 of 48
Life — February 24, 1916 — page 23: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a patriotic poem by Eleanor Duncan Wood, not a political cartoon. It appears in *Life* magazine as celebratory verse about American identity and immigration. The poem personifies America as a "Mother" welcoming immigrants ("wanderers") as children. It emphasizes that immigrants came voluntarily—"not one hast thou compelled"—to embrace American freedom, contrasting this with "Old World" tyranny. The decorative border features colonial imagery (ships, soldiers, Native Americans, the Great Seal) and American flags, reinforcing patriotic themes. The poem warns against internal betrayal ("no Judas in our band") and calls on "sons and foster-sons alike" to defend American liberty together. It reflects early 20th-century immigrant-friendly American nationalism, portraying immigration as compatible with American freedom rather than as a threat.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
OTHER of outstretched arms and generous breast, Let never welcomed wanderers strike at thee! Who seek from far thy Canaan of the West, May they henceforth as thine own children be! Not one hast thou compelled ; unurged they came To where the altar fires of Freedom shine. Let them remember how to feed that flame. Men smiled at death and poured their blood as wine. Ours that best heritage, dear native land Of Liberty, wrung from the tyrant’s sway. Oh, may there be no Judas in our band To kiss and kill, to barter and betray! But sons and foster-sons alike stand fast To guard our Mother from an Old World chain, And hurl the stout defiance of the Past, “Freemen we are! Freemen we shall remain!” Eleanor Duncan Wood.