Life, 1921-08-18 · page 3 of 35
Life — August 18, 1921 — page 3: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page presents a poem titled "Absence" by Dorothy Parker, a celebrated American writer known for witty, often melancholic verse about relationships. The poem explores emotional loss—the speaker never anticipated how profoundly their beloved's departure would affect nature itself (the sky losing color, birds ceasing song). The accompanying illustration depicts a mother and child by a fence near water, with the child ("Bobbie") explaining to his mother that his playmates are teaching him to swear. The caption's gentle humor—the boy admitting they "ain't much good at it"—provides comic relief to Parker's more serious meditation on absence and the unexpected ways loss reshapes our perception of the world.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Absence By Dorothy Parker NEVER thought that heav’n would lose its blue I And sullen storm-clouds mask the gentle sky; I never thought the rose’s velvet hue Would pale and sicken, though we said good-by. I never dreamed the lark would hush its note As day succeeded ever-drearier day, Nor knew the song that swelled the robin’s throat Would fade to silence, when you went away. I never knew the sun’s irradiant beams Upon the brooding earth no more would shine, Nor thought that only in my mocking dreams Would happiness that once I knew be mine. I never thought the slim moon, mournfully, Would shroud her pallid self in murky night. Dear heart, I never thought these things would be— I never thought they would, and I was right. Mother: Those little playmates of yours look rather common, Bobbie. I hope none of them swear. Bobbie: Oh, some of ’em try to, mother, but they ain’t much good at it. comicbooks.com