Life, 1916-03-09 · page 31 of 44
Life — March 9, 1916 — page 31: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a satirical poem by Walter Adolphe Roberts attacking Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany, published during or shortly after World War I. The verse uses evolutionary imagery to argue that the Kaiser represents humanity's bestial, uncivilized nature—specifically the primal instincts of tigers (bloodlust) and apes (primitive fear). The satire's point: despite claims of civilization and progress, the Kaiser's actions—striking down weaker nations and calling it "War," then invoking God to justify brutal force—prove that humans remain enslaved to animalistic impulses. The poem questions whether humanity will ever truly evolve beyond these base instincts. The accompanying illustrations (a tiger at top, an ape figure, and landscape vignettes) reinforce this animal/primitive symbolism. This represents typical WWI-era American propaganda criticism of German leadership.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Tiger and Ape To the Kaiser By Walter Adolphe Roberts HEIR blood is in your veins, their bestial clay Still fouls your flesh, O King! You are not free Of the fierce tiger’s lust for blood when he, Full fed,-yet bared his fangs to rend and slay. You are not free of the black fear that lay Upon the ape forefather in the tree, Who whimpered, waked by thunder-claps, to see Majestic tropic lightning at play. Last year we deemed that man had journeyed far Upon the upward pathway from the clod, When you struck down the weak and called it War, Cringed to the force unleashed and called it God. Must the red dawns of myriad acons glow Ere the last breed of ape and tiger go? comicbooks.com