Life, 1921-10-06 · page 12 of 33
Life — October 6, 1921 — page 12: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a literary illustration accompanying a poem by Richard Le Gallienne, not a political cartoon. The decorative page features an 18th-century-style scene of fashionable society gathering at an inn called "The Lyre." The poem celebrates the cultural refinement of this establishment—a place where educated patrons discuss classical literature, music, and wit. References to "Porto, sherris and Tokay," French courtly music, and allusions to figures like Fielding and Horace suggest an idealized literary salon. The illustration's ornate frame and period costumes evoke nostalgia for an earlier era of aesthetic sophistication. This appears to be satirizing contemporary concerns about declining cultural taste, positioning the "Lyre" as a refuge for genuine artistic sensibility amid modish superficiality.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
MASTER of the lyric inn Where the rarer sort so long Drew the rein, to ‘scape the din Of the cymbal and the gong, Topers of the classic bin— Oporto, sherris and Tokay, Muscatel and Beaujolais— Conning some old Book of Airs, Lolling in their Queen Anne chairs: Catch or glee or madrigal, Writ for viol or virginal; Or from France some courtly tune, Gavotte, ridotto, rigadoon— Watteau and the rising moon; Ballade, rondeau, triolet, Villanelle or virelay, Wistful of a statelier day, Gallant, delicate desire: Where the sign swings of the Lyre. Garlands droop above the door, Thou, dear Master, art no more. Lo! About thy portals throng Sorrowing shapes that loved thy song: Taste and Elegance are there, The modish Muses of Mayfair, Wit, Distinction, Form and Style, Humour too, with tear and smile. Fashion sends her butterflies: Pretty laces to their eyes, Ladies from St. James's fair Step out from the sedan chair, Wigged and scented dandies too Tristly wear their sprigs of rue; Country squires are in the crowd, And little Phyllida sobs aloud. Then stately shades I seem to see, Master, to companion thee; Fielding and Horace here are come, To lead thee to Elysium; Last comes one all golden—Fame, Calls thee, Master, by thy name, On thy brow the Laurel lays, Whispers low “In After Days!” Richard Le Gallienne comicbooks.com