Life, 1921-03-17 · page 13 of 40
Life — March 17, 1921 — page 13: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This satirical poem and illustration depicts **Father Time** (the elderly bearded figure) encountering Spring emerging from an Easter egg, represented as a "Flower Fairy" with delicate wings. The satire targets **Spring's unpredictability and chaos**. Father Time complains that Spring causes endless trouble—arriving suddenly, playing pranks, creating mischief through her sisters (the seasons), and being fundamentally unreliable ("Spring is never twice the same!"). The joke is that despite Spring's disruptiveness, Father Time remains unable to control her. The poem ends with his resigned fantasy of escaping by stopping Earth's rotation or taking "a million years' vacation"—satirizing humanity's frustration with spring weather's notorious inconsistency and the season's chaotic arrival each year.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
and sses ook two yund here ) you who Vhite oo is always unexpected, Always up to some new game.” Thus old Father Time reflected “spring is never twice the same! sright and fleeting as a bubble, sone almost before she’s here, he makes a lot more trouble Than her sisters in a year! may be here any minute, en again maybe she mayn’t, There's no mischief but she’s in it, Ste would rile a blessed saint! “When she’d have you think she’s dreaming Father Time’s Easter Egg Primrose dreams, it’s safe.to say ‘Gentle Spring’ is only scheming Some new kind of prank to play! “When she plays her pranks here- after My forgiveness she shall beg—” “Shall she?” came a voice with laughter From inside an Easter Egg. Through the shell a bright and glis- tening Flower Fairy popped its head. Loud laughed Time, “If you've been listening, Don’t repeat a word I’ve said! Drawing and Verse.: b) OLIVER HERFORD “Should Spring think that I would scold her I have worshiped her in vain; After all the times I've told her Must I tell it her again? “Were I boss of all creation I would take a well-carned rest I would give up Aviation Just to do what pleased me best. “T would stop the Earth's rotation When I heard the first Thrush sing, Take a million years’ vacation, Yes—and spend them all with * Spring!” comicbooks.com