Life, 1916-11-23 · page 3 of 40
Life — November 23, 1916 — page 3: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page presents a poem by Richard Butler Glaenzer alongside an illustration titled "The Old Stage Door." The poem uses theatrical metaphor to explore human nature—the "demons and angels" within us that invisibly shape our character and choices, numbering "ten million and seven." The accompanying sketch depicts a stage entrance with theatrical posters advertising period films (visible titles include "The Kiss," "Revenge," "Love"). A well-dressed man in a bowler hat stands outside, apparently seeking entry, while a woman in period costume leans from the doorway. The satire appears to critique the theater world or perhaps broader questions about authenticity versus performance in society—the "hidden" influences that determine who we become, referenced in both the poem's title and the theatrical setting.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
The Hidden Host ERE are demons and angels in each of us; But they rise not at rub of a lamp In tangible, visible reach of us, But hide in a protean camp Whose walls are low hell and high heaven; And they number ten million and seven! Yet they spread in the smallest man Jack of us, As champions of blessing and curse, A prop or a drag at the back of us, A-cheering for better or worse; But it’s hard to distinguish their voices, When it comes to a question of choices. And they stick to the end with the last of us, So can they he fancies we breed From our habits? Or did the whole past of us Create them before we were sced? Evil and good—have they made us? Or but echoed whilst they obeyed us? Richard Butler Glaenzer. DIOCRAPH 15000 STAGE DOOR