Life, 1922-04-27 · page 5 of 34
Life — April 27, 1922 — page 5: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains a poem by Dorothy Parker titled "Plea," accompanying an ink sketch of what appears to be a social scene with multiple figures in an interior setting. The poem addresses relationship secrets and infidelity. The speaker confesses to past transgressions ("loves you overcame her") and asks their current partner to keep these secrets hidden from another woman ("keep this one secret from her"). The poem suggests romantic entanglement with multiple people and requests discretion to avoid hurting the other woman. The accompanying sketch depicts what appears to be a tense social gathering—possibly showing the awkward scenario the poem describes. The caption "The Boy: This lady's with me" suggests a man asserting his claim on a woman amid social tension. The satire targets the hypocrisy and emotional complications of romantic relationships in modern society.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
ECRETS, you said, would hold us two apart: When this, my day of happiness, is through, You'd have me know of you your least transgression And love, that bloomed so fair, turns brown and brittle, And so the intimate places of your heart, There is a thing that I shall ask of you— Knee! you bared to me, as in confession. 1, who have given so much, and asked so little. Softly vou told of loves that went before,— Some day, when there’s another in my stead; Of clinging arms, of kisses gladly given; Again you'll feel the need of absolution, Luxuriously clean of heart once more, And you will go to her, and bow your head, You rose up, then, and stood before me, shriven. And offer her your past, as contribution. When with your list of loves you overcome her, For Heaven's sake, keep this one secret from her! Dorothy Parker. The Boy: This lady’s with me. comicbooks.com