Life, 1921-04-07 · page 9 of 38
Life — April 7, 1921 — page 9: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page features "Song of the Open Country," a poem by Dorothy Parker celebrating rural life and nature. The illustration depicts a figure (appearing to be a child or youth) walking through a dark forest corridor. The satirical element becomes clear in the caption below the sketch: "Little Sister: KEEP YER HAND CLOSED TIGHT ON YER PENNY, BILLIE, THERE'S BEEN A LOT OF HOLD-UPS LATELY." The joke contrasts Parker's romantic celebration of peaceful countryside life—with its "clean and wind-swept space," quiet gardens, and spiritual calm—against the harsh reality that even rural areas suffer from crime and robbery. The caption deflates the poem's idealization by injecting contemporary urban concerns (muggings/"hold-ups") into the supposedly idyllic countryside setting. This is typical Life magazine satire: puncturing sentimental romanticism with cynical social commentary.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Song of the Open Country Wes lights are low, and the day has died, While, softly borne on the scented air, I sit and dream of the countryside, Comes the far-off chime of chapel bells. A tiny cottage I seem to see, In its quaint old garden set apart; And a Sabbath calm steals over me, While peace dwells deep in my brooding heart. Where sky meets earth at the meadow’s end, I dream of a clean and wind-swept space Where each tall tree is a stanch old friend, And each frail bud turns a trusting face. A purling brook, with each purl a pray’r, And I thank whatever gods look down To the bending grass its secret tells; That I am living right here in town, Dorothy Parker. Little Sister: KEEP YER HAND CLOSED TIGHT ON YER PENNY, BILLIE, THERE’S BEEN A LOT OF HOLD-UPS LATELY. comicbooks.com