The Wasp — 1879 — page 349: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This is an **introduction page** rather than a cartoon. It features decorative typography and a poem titled "THE WONDROUS BELL!" celebrating the "Calvary Bell." The poem uses the bell as a metaphor for Christian salvation and moral virtue. It describes how the bell's sound carries messages of "Redemption and salvation evermore" and promotes values like "justice, meekness, lowly charity." The final lines promise the bell's "peal" will continue "until universe and time shall end." This appears to be **earnest religious/moral content** rather than satire. Without additional context about *The Wasp* magazine's specific issue or date, the poem's exact satirical target—if any—is unclear. It may be sincere, or it could be parodying overly sentimental religious rhetoric, but the page itself doesn't establish this definitively.