Life, 1923-09-20 · page 5 of 36
Life — September 20, 1923 — page 5: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page from *Life* magazine presents a satirical essay titled "Life: A Dissertation Upon the Human Heart," mocking pseudo-scientific anatomical discussions of the heart's nature. The poem dismisses historical authorities (Galen, Vesalius, Aristotle) and modern scientific clinics as missing the point—the heart's true nature is emotional rather than physiological. The accompanying illustration shows a domestic dinner scene with a woman, man, and child. The caption presents mundane dialogue about food preferences ("Do you like wax beans, Harriet, dear?"), contrasting sharply with the romantic, poetic language above. The satire's point: while scholars debate the heart's physical mechanics, everyday married life reveals the heart's true domain—domestic routine and affection. The gap between elevated rhetoric and prosaic reality creates the humor.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
A Dissertation Upon the Human Heart Dedicated to an Inspirer of Affection ALEN, Vesalius and Aristotle The human heart exhaustively discussed ; And now it’s known to beat within a bottle Even when its owner's dust 1 doubt the Flemi doubt the Pe More modern dicta render little li I doubt the forcibly expressed opinion Of the ancient Stagirite. Anatomists, I hold, are frightiul cynics. Biologists I sweepingly reject I never shall be found attending clinics, Whatever they dissect. Ace Kersey Though conscious of their laudable endeavor Toward scientific truth, I much misdoubt, As to the heart, if any one can ever Ferret its secret out. That muscular organ seated in the thorax, Known from before the days of the Ephesians, Susceptible to hat-pin as to war-axe, Subject to cardiac lesions, With ventricles and auricles confounds me All that I know of physiologic fact Is: when I look at you, it quite astounds me The way I feel it act! IVilliam Rose Benét. ~~ — y “Do YOU LIKE WAX BEANS, HARRIET, DEAR?” “YEs’M, I LIKE ALL KINDS OF BEANS EXCEPT CORN AND ASPARAGUS.” comicbooks.com