Life, 1928-10-12 · page 39 of 44
Life — October 12, 1928 — page 39: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains a book review in verse form by Arthur Guiterman of Louis Bromfield's novel about Annie Spragg. The poem recounts a satirical narrative: Annie, a repressed woman from rural Winnebago Falls whose strict preacher brother Uriah confines her, develops stigmata (religious wounds) that Italian nuns interpret as saintly miracles. However, an old woman named Winnery investigates and discovers the "stigmata" are actually marks from chains—evidence of Uriah's cruel abuse restraining her forbidden desires. Guiterman's satirical point, stated in the final lines, is that despite civilized pretenses, all humans remain driven by primal urges (represented by the pagan god Priapus). The poem mocks both religious fanaticism and repressive morality. The page's lower half features a San Francisco tourism advertisement, unrelated to the review.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
The Strange Case of Miss Annie Spragg By Louis Bromfield. F .A. Stokes Company Ox Annie’s hands and feet and side And brow, the nun Annunziata, In Italy, when Annie died, Beheld what seemed the true Stigmata. “A miracle!” they cried. “A saint!” So Winnery, a nice old granny Who thought all miracles were quaint, Dug up the facts concerning Annie: She came from Winnebago Falls. Uriah Spragg, a sombre preacher, Her brother, ruled the humble walls Wherein she drudged, a lonely creature. But nought can tame the surging breast; Of this there’s not the faintest doubt- let; So Annic’s feelings, long repressed, Were simply bound to find an outlet. She danced with goats when nights were wild Without the robes that rightly drape us, The lithe, abandoned, female child Of that old heathen god, Priapus! Uriah loathed such pagan larks And harshly, cruelly restrained her. Those red stigmata were the marks Of gyves and things wherewith he'd chained her. With episodes of birds and beasts, Of barmaids, witches, saints in glory, OF prophets princesses and priests rolls the web of Annie’s story. Itproves that though our blood has cooled We must not let the truth escape us That all of us are somehow ruled By that same heathen god, Priapus. Arthur Guiterman. THE PUN IS MIGHTIER THAN THE SAW Oxty the brave desert the fair. eee In time of peace prepay for war. eee Pleasant company is always excepted. The best of friends must park. eee Reformer’s motto: ** thyself. eee The first twenty years are the oddest. cee What has become of the old-fashioned? From “New Teeth in Old Saws,"* by Wayne G. Haisley (Scart). zWanted, North Ward, single room. Please do me to view room with another gent you're like. I won't.” —Ad in Townsville Daily Bulletin, Hi knows, he knows!—Bulletin (Sydney). mat wre I'd C Wyk: is golden SAN FRANCISCO TRANGE as it may seem, Californians have been modest about one of the charms of their State. That is, the winter climate at San Francisco. Yet San Francisco in winter is rad- iant. Snow and sleet are com- pletely absent. Average win- ter temperature 51°. Theair’s a tonic. The fairways are as green in December as in May- time. And the city itself is the gateway to superbly var- ied playgrounds— Yosemite, which isopen all the year; the Monterey Bay country with sunny beaches and cham- * . Pionship golf courses; the Redwood Empire;and Hawaii and the Orient off in the sunset. Visit San Francisco this winter! Enjoy its open air sports, its smart shops, its original cafes. Know this vivid international city of which H. L. Mencken writes: “. .. L confess to a great weak- ness for San Francisco. It is my favorite American town, as it is of almost everyone else who has ever visited it... . Its people take the time to live, and they are aided in that laudable enterprise by the best climate in the world.” May San Francisco send you, with its compliments, the book described below? ALIFORNIA ‘Where “ye ts better THIS HANDSOMELY ILLUSTRATED BOOK describing San Francisco's charm, romance and oppor- tunities, will be sent fovou free by Californians Inc., a public organization wit copy now. Perret nothing to sell. Send for your seeeeeeeeeeneesenssccesessonsoneneaseeseseeesseneonsaases CALIFORNIANS INC,, DEPT 1110, 703 MARKET STREET, SAN FRANCISCO Please send me the book ‘‘San Francisco:’" Name Address comicbooks.com