Life — August 31, 1916 — page 12: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# "The Somnambulist" — WWI Satirical Poem & Cartoons This page satirizes WWI through Charles Leroy Edison's poem about Napoleon Bonaparte sleepwalking through a nightmarish vision of modern warfare. The central cartoon shows German Zeppelins (airships) bombing, with explosions and naval warfare depicted below—referencing actual aerial bombardment that shocked civilians during the war. The bottom cartoon mocks food shortages, showing a pork barrel labeled "PLEASE!" with soldiers fighting over it—satirizing both military supply problems and civilian rationing during WWI. The poem's surreal tone mocks the war's chaos: Prussians attacking Paris, Valkyries, shark boats, English naval conflict, and ultimately destruction ("God's cathedrals are leveled"). The final stanza cynically notes Wilson (U.S. President) merely talks while Belgium suffers—criticizing American hesitation before 1917 entry.