a cockroach who had been a free-verse poet in a previous life

August 28, 2006 3:32 PM

Archy and mehitabel. Written by Don Marquis, illustrated by George Herriman. Aside from being a cockroach, Archy was also the reincarnation of a vers libre (free verse) poet. He made himself known to Marquis by jumping up and down on the keyboard all night, so the columnist would find his work the following morning. Once portrayed by Carol Channing. Recently annotated.
posted by Astro Zombie (22 comments total)

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

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

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