Life — November 18, 1920 — page 10: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# "Hymn of Hate" - Dorothy Parker This is Dorothy Parker's satirical poem about irritating social types. The accompanying cartoon illustrates one subject: amateur spiritualists or séance practitioners claiming to contact the dead. The poem catalogs various bores—Symptom Collectors, doctors, Parlor Comedians, Gluttons for Business, and these "Amateur Mediums." Parker mocks people who: - Constantly receive supernatural messages at séances - Claim spirit communication is "same" for everyone - Sit in circles with "lights out" - Pretend clairvoyant powers The cartoon shows crude figures gathered around what appears to be a makeshift séance setup, emphasizing the absurdity and low-class charlatan nature of such practices. Parker's critique targets the pretentiousness and tedium of people claiming mystical authority without genuine knowledge.