Life, 1921-12-08 · page 9 of 34
Life — December 8, 1921 — page 9: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page features a sketch portrait of actress **Marjorie Rambeau** titled "In 'Daddy's Gone A-Hunting,'" likely referencing a theatrical production. Below the portrait is a poem by **Dorothy Parker** addressing the actress's emotional performance. Parker's verse describes spectators shedding tears while watching Rambeau act, their emotions "collected in a crystal sea." The poem contrasts the audience's struggle to maintain composure—attempting to convince themselves "it isn't true" and that they remain "happy as the widely-mentioned lark"—with their inevitable breakdown, concluding: "we pack the theatre to its doors / To see you weep." The piece is essentially a theatrical tribute celebrating Rambeau's skill at moving audiences through her dramatic performance.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
To Marjorie Rambeau In “Daddy's Gone A-Hunting” F all the tears you shed so lavishly We try to tell ourselves it isn’t true, Were gathered, as they left each brimming eye. We strive to feel that dawn must follow dark, And were collected in.a crystal sea, We strain to hold the thought that, off-stage, you The envious ocean would curl up and dry— Are happy as the widely-mentioned lark. So awful in its mightiness, that lake, But, though you wring our feelings to their cores, So fathomless, that clear and salty deep. Our devastated hearts you seem to keep, For, oh, it seems your gentle heart must break, For, oh, we pack the theatre to its doors To see you weep. To see you weep. Dorothy Parker. Copyright Life Pub. Co. comicbooks.com