Life — December 30, 1920 — page 5: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# "Ballade of Year's End" - Life Magazine This page contains a reflective poem by Edouard W. Barnard titled "Ballade of Year's End," contemplating what one has accomplished during the past year. The poem uses repeated refrains—"What have I done with the days? What have I done with the year?"—to express uncertainty about personal achievement and legacy. The illustration titled "The Sheltered One" depicts a horse standing beside a parked automobile, suggesting a comparison between old and new transportation methods. This likely satirizes how some people (represented by the horse owner) clung to traditional ways while society modernized around them, or comments on economic disparities during an era of rapid industrial change. The imagery complements the poem's theme of reckoning with time and change.