Life, 1919-01-09 · page 23 of 34
Life — January 9, 1919 — page 23: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page from *Life* magazine contains two satirical cartoons and letters: **Top cartoon:** "Original Sight-Seeing Bus" depicts a mammoth as a tourist vehicle with guides pointing out "The Garden of Eden, formerly the residence of the Adamses"—a joke mocking the Adams political family (likely John Adams or John Quincy Adams) by reducing their legacy to a prehistoric relic. **Bottom cartoon and text:** A letter to poet Amy Lowell criticizes the "vers libre" (free verse) poetry movement she championed. The figure must "drop that march-step and learn to saunter again," suggesting free verse is too rigid or pretentious. The letter sarcastically praises Lowell as "the best" while claiming not to understand her work—mockery of both modernist poetry and its small, self-important audience. The page also contains a separate letter expressing regret about wartime internment policies, predicting future wars will provide harsher justice. The satire targets political dynasties, literary modernism, and government wartime practices.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
ORIGINAL SIGHT-SI “ON YOUR RIGHT IS THE GARDEN OF EDEN, FORMERLY THE RESIDENCE OF THE ADAMSES” “YOU'LL HAVE TO DROP THAT MARCH-STEP AND LEARN TO SAUNTER AGAIN” with it—is a sad commentary on our methods. That you should not have been adjudged guilty, that you should not have been interned, that you should not have been permitted to eat three square meals a day at the expense of the gov- ernment, while employing your leisure in playing tennis and billiards—all this shows that justice is sometimes a sad laggard But do not despair. In a hundred years or more we may have another war, and then you will get what is coming to you Mildly yours Lire. To Miss Amy Lowell. D AR MADAM Among all the rs of vers libre now engaged in the doubtiul pastime of raising the intellectual standards of that small proportion of the public whose value is chiefly measured by practical results they do not achieve, you are easily the best. But I sometimes understand the things you write. In calling your attention to this defect, | trust you will believe me when I say that T mean this in no unkindly spirit, but that T have your best interest always at heart. Pragmatically yours, Lire. comicbooks.com