a cockroach who had been a free-verse poet in a previous life
August 28, 2006 3:32 PM   Subscribe

 
I loved Marquis' stuff when I was a kid, along with Herriman's mesmerizing illustrations. There was something very cool and out of time about both Marquis and Herriman.

Thanks for these links.
posted by blucevalo at 3:56 PM on August 28, 2006


Where I step a weed dies.

I love these poems.
posted by small_ruminant at 4:09 PM on August 28, 2006


toujours gai toujours gai

wotthehell wotthehell


Great book, and some fantastic work by Herriman.
posted by lekvar at 4:23 PM on August 28, 2006


is any of it youtubed? (the b'way or movie or anything)
posted by amberglow at 4:25 PM on August 28, 2006


Delightful. By the way, his name's pronounced "mar-kwis".
posted by QuietDesperation at 5:14 PM on August 28, 2006


Wonderful. I am delighted they have my favorite archy and mehitabel poem online, the poignant mehitabel and her kittens.
posted by LarryC at 5:24 PM on August 28, 2006


One of my favorites:

“i thought of all
the massacres & slaughter
of persecuted insects
at the hands of cruel humans
and i cried
aloud to heaven
and i knelt on all six legs
and vowed a vow
of vengeance”


Bwa ha ha!
posted by lalochezia at 5:45 PM on August 28, 2006


Oh wow. My parents had three Archy books when I was a kid. Half of it went right over my head, and as I get older I keep having delayed haha! moments as another Marquis timebomb detonates.

Toujours gai, kid, toujours gai.
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 6:44 PM on August 28, 2006


cage me and i d go frantic
my life is so romantic
capricious and corybantic

posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 6:46 PM on August 28, 2006


Does that annotated edition not have the Herriman illustrations? CAN SUCH THINGS BE?
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 6:53 PM on August 28, 2006


should we not be making all these comments in lowercase without shifted characters
posted by JHarris at 7:34 PM on August 28, 2006


There was an archy excerpt in a children's anthology-type book I used to have. This is excellent. Thank you.
posted by jenovus at 7:38 PM on August 28, 2006


Psst! One of the tags is misspelled....
posted by JHarris at 7:45 PM on August 28, 2006


If I ever get another dog, this is what I'll want to name him (also for Cary Grant: ne ' Archibald Leach).
posted by brujita at 9:54 PM on August 28, 2006


i've loved archy and mehitabel since i found them in college. recently picked up the new Jolie Holland CD, Springtime can Kill You - and there's a song on there called Mehitabel's Blues, which sounds like it could be from (or inspired by) marquis' work, but i'm not sure.
posted by ab3 at 10:47 PM on August 28, 2006


aw. thanks for posting... i've been a fan for over [something] years. one of my favorite portrayals of unrequited love.
posted by trip and a half at 11:39 PM on August 28, 2006


indeed we should jharris (and
we should tip
the hat to mr. cummings) we
should
indeed.
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 1:18 AM on August 29, 2006


awesome. these books have been family favorites since long before I was born. we had the channing record and our cat was even named mehitabel.
posted by octothorpe at 4:14 AM on August 29, 2006


Nor let us forget The Old Soak, classically put on the big screen.
posted by IndigoJones at 5:19 AM on August 29, 2006


Just to be precise, Carol Channing provided the voice of Mehitabel in the 1971 animated film "Shinbone Alley," which was based on a Broadway musical of the same name produced in 1957. In the stage version, Eartha Kitt played the wayward feline; her standby was Chita Rivera! To make matters even more convoluted, the play was adapted from the recording-only jazz opera "archy and mehitabel," which was released on LP in 1954. This version also featured Miss Channing.
posted by La Cieca at 7:59 AM on August 29, 2006 [1 favorite]


I'd heard Marquis mentioned and quoted for years but hadn't read any of it in quantity until this post; that's really some amazing stuff. (And the bitter and impressively vulgar Ode to Hollywood is impressive as well.)
posted by IshmaelGraves at 8:42 PM on August 29, 2006 [1 favorite]


Took me forever to track this down, but here's my own favorite: mehitabel dances with boreas.
posted by pocams at 8:45 PM on August 29, 2006 [1 favorite]


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