Life, 1923-02-01 · page 5 of 40
Life — February 1, 1923 — page 5: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
The poem "Imperfections" by T.R. uses self-deprecating humor to critique American society. The author claims ignorance about politics, accepts that democracy is "partly" democratic, and jests that his wife represents "the wonderfullest paragon on earth"—suggesting she's actually quite flawed. The cartoon below depicts a soldier on a mule encountering another soldier. The caption reads: "Can you shoot from this mule?" / "Yessuh, yo' can shoot from dat mule—once." This appears to be military humor about the unpredictability and bucking nature of mules during wartime. The dialect suggests this references American military experience, possibly WWI-era. The joke's point: attempting to shoot from a mule is impractical because the animal will immediately throw its rider.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Wat Lyfe Imperfections HE newest news is only rather newish, I’ve never known a soul as misbegotten And lots of things are greener than the grass; As the late Uriah Heep, or Silas Wegg— The bluest sky is merely mildly bluish, Nobody’s wholly good or wholly rotten The biggest mule is only half an ass. In the manner of an oyster, or an egg. { never have a moment quite ecstatic I have never seen a person who was reckoned In which it isn’t given me to sce As supreme in beauty, intellect and worth— that my country is but partly democratic, And I fear that even my wife is only second And salvation but comparatively free. To the wonderfullest paragon on earth! I do not kick. I find, on due reflection, If anything were good beyond a doubt We shouldn't be contented with perfection That left us naught beyond to dream about. That divinity itself is but divinish Is a proof that it is perfectly divine— And the power that made the universe Einsteinish Must be (relatively) something pretty fine! “Can you shoot from this mule?” “Yessah, yo’ can shoot from dat mule—once.” comicbooks.com