Life, 1922-10-12 · page 5 of 36
Life — October 12, 1922 — page 5: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page presents a poem by S.K. titled "Life," subtitled "(After Reading a Dry Goods Trade Journal)." The poem uses fabrics and textiles as metaphors for romantic love—the speaker's beloved wears Panvelaine, Nishni, Veldyne, Armandel, Kerami, and Marleen (appearing to be fabric names from trade catalogs). The accompanying illustration depicts two centaur-like figures (human torsos with animal bodies) in conversation about weather, with dialogue suggesting rural or working-class characters. The satire appears to mock both the dry goods/textile industry's commercial language and perhaps the contrast between commercial materialism and natural, rustic life. The poem celebrates that fabrics' meaning matters less than that "she wears them"—a commentary on consumption, love, and material culture in modern commerce.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
fe ’ Song (After Reading a Dry Goods Trade Journal) MY’ love goes clad in Panvelaine, She walks abroad in Armandel, In Nishni and Veldyne; Kerami and Marleen; And what that means in English plain Yet I am not the one to tell Is no affair of mine. What all these names may mean. I know not what these weaves may be, Let that concern the ones who show, Nor yet what loom prepares them— The ones who dye and spin them— This fact alone appeals to me: This thing, and only this, I know: She wears them, boy, she wears them! She’s in them, boy, she’s in them! S. K. Sea glS Se aiiva vty Young Centaur: Lovely day, isn’t it? Old Centaur: Yes, but we'll have a spell of rain afore long. I been feelin’ things in my spavin. comicbooks.com