Captain Billy's Whiz Bang, February 1922 · page 44 of 68
Captain Billy's Whiz Bang #30 — page 44: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains a sentimental poem, not a political cartoon. It's a melodramatic monologue by a female speaker (Camille) addressing her lover, expressing her doomed romance. The poem deals with class difference and social inequality—she describes herself as a "flower" unable to reach his "high exalted place" like a star. Their love is illicit and impossible: he will eventually marry someone of his own social standing ("your wife"), leaving her abandoned. She's sacrificed her virtue ("I gave up all for you") with no prospect of legitimate marriage due to their class divide. The romantic tragedy and moral fallen-woman theme reflect early 20th-century sentimental literature. Published in *Captain Billy's Whiz Bang*, a humor magazine known for mixing satire with lighter content, this appears to be melodramatic verse for entertainment rather than satirical commentary.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
42 Captain Billy's Whiz Bang The Song of Camille Sitting alone by my window, Watching the moonlit street, Bending my head to listen, To the well-known sound of your feet I have been wondering darling How I can bear the pain, When I watch with sighs and tear-wet eyes, And wait for your coming in vain. For I know that the day approaches, When your heart will tire of me, When by door and gate I must watch and wait, For a form I shall not see. For the love that is now my heaven, The kisses that make my life, You will bestow on another, And that other will be your wife. You will grow weary of sinning, Though you do not call it so You will long for a love that is purer Than the love that we two know, God knows I love you dearly With a passion strong as true, But you will grow tired and leave me Though I gave up all for you. I was pure as the morning When I first looked on your face, I knew I could never reach you In your high exalted place, But I looked and loved and worshipped As a flower might worship a star And your eyes shown down upon me And you seemed so far, so far. And then? Well then you loved me Loved me with all your heart, But we could not stand at the altar We were so far apart. If a star should wed with a flower, The star must drop from the sky Or the flower in trying to reach it Would droop on its stem and die. But you said that you loved me darling,