Life — May 11, 1916 — page 11: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Explanation of This Life Magazine Page The page depicts the aftermath of World War I. The engraving shows German soldiers marching past the body of a fallen soldier, with a note identifying it as "Deutschland Über Alles"—acknowledging Gérome's painting "Execution of Marshal Ney." The accompanying poem, "The Casualist" by Richard Butler Glaenzer, meditates on romantic love and loss. The speaker asks whether meeting a beloved woman was "designed for my goal," questioning if their love survives death or separation. The juxtaposition is pointed: the grandiose German nationalism ("Deutschland Über Alles") contrasts sharply with the poem's intimate, questioning meditation on personal love—suggesting that military ambition and nationalist fervor destroy individual human connection and meaning.