Captain Billy's Whiz Bang, April 1922 · page 45 of 67
Captain Billy's Whiz Bang #32 — page 45: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page from *Captain Billy's Whiz Bang* contains no cartoon or satire—it's a serious romantic narrative poem about a Catholic priest struggling with forbidden love and desire. The plot: A priest experiences intense longing for a woman, prays for divine intervention, and finds temporary spiritual strength through moonlight and the shadow of a crucifix. As dawn breaks and sunlight returns, his religious fervor fades and he becomes "a man" again—suggesting his earthly passions reassert themselves. The final section reveals he discovers a woman's body in a stream, implying a tragic resolution. The piece explores the tension between celibacy vows and human emotion, presenting the priest's spiritual struggle sympathetically rather than mockingly. This appears to be literary content rather than satirical commentary, atypical for what readers might expect from *Whiz Bang*, a magazine known for humor and irreverence.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
44 Captain Billy's Whiz Bang Strange longings he had never known before, Her very memory so thrilled him through. He lay so tempest-tossed, 'twas still without, And moaned: "Oh, God! I love her, love her so! Oh, for one spark of heaven's fire to show Some way to cast this devil's passion out! "Christ, by Thy passion, by Thy death for men, Oh, save me from myself, save her from me!" And at the word the moon came out again From her cloud-palace, and threw suddenly A shadow from the great cross overhead Upon the priest; and with it came a sense Of strength renewed, of perfect confidence In Him who on that cross for men hung dead. But as the ghostly moon began to fade, And moonlight glimmered into ghostlier dawn, The shadow that the crucifix had made With twilight mixed; and with it seemed withdrawn The peace that with its shadowy shape began. And as the dim east brightened, slowly ceased The wild devotion that had filled the priest— And with full sunlight he sprang up—a man! He strode straight down the church and passed along The grave-set garden'