Life — February 27, 1919 — page 7: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# "Life" Magazine Page Analysis This page presents a poem titled "Climax" by Katherine Kissum Johnson, addressing post-WWI America. The verse urges humble remembrance of fallen soldiers ("the dead who lie in Flanders") and sacrifice by women and children during "three long years" of war, cautioning against triumphalism or forgetting wartime suffering. The accompanying illustration, titled "After a Long Absence," depicts an emotional reunion: a soldier kneeling before a young child who asks, "Don't you know me? I'm your daddy," while a woman (likely the mother) watches from a doorway. The soldier responds he's "heard much talk of you." This illustration powerfully illustrates the human cost of prolonged war—the estrangement of fathers from children during years of separation—complementing the poem's call for solemn remembrance rather than celebration.