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Archy and Mehitabel
Of all the literary genres, humor has the shortest shelf life--except for Archy and Mehitabel, that is. First published in 1916, it is a classic of American literature. Archy is a cockroach, inside whom resides the soul of a free-verse poet; he communicates with Don Marquis by leaping upon the keys of the columnist's typewriter. In poems of varying length, Archy pithily describes his wee world, the main fixture of which is Mehitabel, a devil-may-care alley cat.
Archy music will linger in your head long after you finish the book. Here's a tiny taste from his interview with a mummy:
"what ho
my regal leatherface says i
greetings
little scatter footed
scarab
says he"
Writers (particularly journalists) can go lifetimes without attaining such loose-limbed grace. And the illustrations by George Herriman ("Krazy Kat") provide the perfect counterpoint. On top of all that, Marquis did the impossible: he made a cockroach loveable.
196 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1927
109 people are currently reading
1493 people want to read
About the author
Don Marquis
124 books60 followersDonald Robert Perry "Don" Marquis was a newspaper columnist as well as a playwright, novelist, and poet, best known for his "Archy and Mehitabel" free verse and his "Old Soak" anti-Prohibition play.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 207 reviews
August 23, 2016
Archy and Mehitabel door motif from the Brooklyn Public Library:
September 23, 2014
hello everyone
in case you haven t heard of me
my name is archy
i was a vers libre poet
who died and came back as a cockroach
i used to pound out my poems on an old typewriter
and someone called don marquis took them to the publisher
now there are no more typewriters
and don marquis is dead
i heard he reincarnated as a fruit bat
The rest of this review is available elsewhere (the location cannot be given for Goodreads policy reasons)
in case you haven t heard of me
my name is archy
i was a vers libre poet
who died and came back as a cockroach
i used to pound out my poems on an old typewriter
and someone called don marquis took them to the publisher
now there are no more typewriters
and don marquis is dead
i heard he reincarnated as a fruit bat
The rest of this review is available elsewhere (the location cannot be given for Goodreads policy reasons)
May 9, 2017
When newspapers were the dominant medium, were fun, and didn't take themselves so goddam seriously, there were great columnists.
Don Marquis was one. archy was his alter ego, a cockroach with the soul of a poet who threw himself on the typewriter keys to express his thoughts. Hence no caps--you can't throw yourself on the caps key and a letter key at the same time. mehitabel was his unruly alley cat sidekick.
Great fun, and occasionally wise ("The human race may be doing the best it can, boss, but that's an explanation, not an excuse.")
There's also a musical version with David Wayne and Carol Channing. Very good, too.
Don Marquis was one. archy was his alter ego, a cockroach with the soul of a poet who threw himself on the typewriter keys to express his thoughts. Hence no caps--you can't throw yourself on the caps key and a letter key at the same time. mehitabel was his unruly alley cat sidekick.
Great fun, and occasionally wise ("The human race may be doing the best it can, boss, but that's an explanation, not an excuse.")
There's also a musical version with David Wayne and Carol Channing. Very good, too.
September 1, 2017
So many good ones, but a couple of my favorite poems:
the lesson of the moth
i was talking to a moth
the other evening
he was trying to break into
an electric light bulb
and fry himself on the wires
why do you fellows
pull this stunt i asked him
because it is the conventional
thing for moths or why
if that had been an uncovered
candle instead of an electric
light bulb you would
now be a small unsightly cinder
have you no sense
plenty of it he answered
but at times we get tired
of using it
we get bored with the routine
and crave beauty
and excitement
fire is beautiful
and we know that if we get
too close it will kill us
but what does that matter
it is better to be happy
for a moment
and be burned up with beauty
than to live a long time
and be bored all the while
so we wad all our life up
into one little roll
and then we shoot the roll
that is what life is for
it is better to be a part of beauty
for one instant and then cease to
exist than to exist forever
and never be a part of beauty
our attitude toward life
is come easy go easy
we are like human beings
used to be before they became
too civilized to enjoy themselves
and before i could argue him
out of his philosophy
he went and immolated himself
on a patent cigar lighter
i do not agree with him
myself i would rather have
half the happiness and twice
the longevity
but at the same time i wish
there was something i wanted
as badly as he wanted to fry himself
archy hears from mars
at eleven o clock
p m on last saturday evening
i received the following
message on my
own private radio set
good evening little archibald
and how are you
this is mars speaking
i replied at once
whom or who
as the case may be
do i know on mars
everyone here is familiar
with your work archy
was the answer
and we fell well repaid
for the trouble we have had
in getting in touch
with your planet
thank you i replied
i would rather hear
mars say that
than any other planet
mars has always been
one of my favoriet planets
it is sweet of you
to think that way about us
said mars
and so we continued to pay
each other interstellar
compliments
what is or are
thirty five million miles
between kindred souls
tell us all about
your planet said mars
well i said it is
round like an orange
or a ball
and it is all cluttered
up with automobiles
and politicians
it doesn t know where it is
going nor why
but it is in a hurry
it is in charge of a
two legged animal called
man who is genuinely
puzzled as to whether
his grandfather was a god
or a monkey
i should think said mars
that what he is himself
would make more difference
than what his grandfather was
not to this animal i replied
he is the great alibi ike of
the cosmos when he raises hell
just because he feels like
raising hell
he wants somebody to blame it on
can t anything be done about him
said mars
i am doing the best i can
i answered
but after all i am only one
and my influence is limited
you are too modest archy
said mars
we all but worship you
here on this planet
a prophet said i is not
without honor save on his own
planet wait a minute
said mars
i want to write that down
that is one of your best things
archy is it original
it was once i answered truthfully
and may be again
won t you tell us a little
something said mars
about what you look like
and what you think
is the best thing you have written
and your favorite games
and that sort of thing
well i said i am brunette
and stand over six feet
without any shoes on
the best skits ihave done
were some little plays
i dashed off
under the general title
of shakespeare s plays
and my favorite sport is theology
you must meet
a great many interesting people
said mars
oh yes i said one becomes
accustomed to that after a while
what is your favorite dish
said mars and do you believe
in the immortality of the soul
stew i said and yes
at least mine is immortal
but i could name several others
that i have my doubts about
is there anything else
of interest about your planet
which you wish to tell your
many admirers on mars
asked mars
there is very little else
of real interest is said
and now will you tune out
and let me do some work
you people who say you admire
my work are always butting in
and taking up my time
how the hell can i get any
serious literary work done
if you keep bothering me
all the time now you get off
the ether and let me do some
deep thinking
you might add that i am shy
and loathe publicity
archy
the lesson of the moth
i was talking to a moth
the other evening
he was trying to break into
an electric light bulb
and fry himself on the wires
why do you fellows
pull this stunt i asked him
because it is the conventional
thing for moths or why
if that had been an uncovered
candle instead of an electric
light bulb you would
now be a small unsightly cinder
have you no sense
plenty of it he answered
but at times we get tired
of using it
we get bored with the routine
and crave beauty
and excitement
fire is beautiful
and we know that if we get
too close it will kill us
but what does that matter
it is better to be happy
for a moment
and be burned up with beauty
than to live a long time
and be bored all the while
so we wad all our life up
into one little roll
and then we shoot the roll
that is what life is for
it is better to be a part of beauty
for one instant and then cease to
exist than to exist forever
and never be a part of beauty
our attitude toward life
is come easy go easy
we are like human beings
used to be before they became
too civilized to enjoy themselves
and before i could argue him
out of his philosophy
he went and immolated himself
on a patent cigar lighter
i do not agree with him
myself i would rather have
half the happiness and twice
the longevity
but at the same time i wish
there was something i wanted
as badly as he wanted to fry himself
archy hears from mars
at eleven o clock
p m on last saturday evening
i received the following
message on my
own private radio set
good evening little archibald
and how are you
this is mars speaking
i replied at once
whom or who
as the case may be
do i know on mars
everyone here is familiar
with your work archy
was the answer
and we fell well repaid
for the trouble we have had
in getting in touch
with your planet
thank you i replied
i would rather hear
mars say that
than any other planet
mars has always been
one of my favoriet planets
it is sweet of you
to think that way about us
said mars
and so we continued to pay
each other interstellar
compliments
what is or are
thirty five million miles
between kindred souls
tell us all about
your planet said mars
well i said it is
round like an orange
or a ball
and it is all cluttered
up with automobiles
and politicians
it doesn t know where it is
going nor why
but it is in a hurry
it is in charge of a
two legged animal called
man who is genuinely
puzzled as to whether
his grandfather was a god
or a monkey
i should think said mars
that what he is himself
would make more difference
than what his grandfather was
not to this animal i replied
he is the great alibi ike of
the cosmos when he raises hell
just because he feels like
raising hell
he wants somebody to blame it on
can t anything be done about him
said mars
i am doing the best i can
i answered
but after all i am only one
and my influence is limited
you are too modest archy
said mars
we all but worship you
here on this planet
a prophet said i is not
without honor save on his own
planet wait a minute
said mars
i want to write that down
that is one of your best things
archy is it original
it was once i answered truthfully
and may be again
won t you tell us a little
something said mars
about what you look like
and what you think
is the best thing you have written
and your favorite games
and that sort of thing
well i said i am brunette
and stand over six feet
without any shoes on
the best skits ihave done
were some little plays
i dashed off
under the general title
of shakespeare s plays
and my favorite sport is theology
you must meet
a great many interesting people
said mars
oh yes i said one becomes
accustomed to that after a while
what is your favorite dish
said mars and do you believe
in the immortality of the soul
stew i said and yes
at least mine is immortal
but i could name several others
that i have my doubts about
is there anything else
of interest about your planet
which you wish to tell your
many admirers on mars
asked mars
there is very little else
of real interest is said
and now will you tune out
and let me do some work
you people who say you admire
my work are always butting in
and taking up my time
how the hell can i get any
serious literary work done
if you keep bothering me
all the time now you get off
the ether and let me do some
deep thinking
you might add that i am shy
and loathe publicity
archy
October 9, 2020
Mrs. Schmidt, my 4th grade teacher read parts of this book to us, just enough to make us want to read it ourselves.
God bless Vivian Schmidt. I imagine she is up in heaven teaching all the little angel children.
God bless Vivian Schmidt. I imagine she is up in heaven teaching all the little angel children.
April 13, 2020
Quirky, fun, sassy, sometimes a little sad but full of bits and pieces of wisdom.
wotthell wotthell
wotthell wotthell
August 5, 2007
Explaining who archy and mehitabel were is just too darn complex. If you enjoy comic verse, do yourself a favor and get this book. (Actually, you can get a good start at this webpage -- http://www.donmarquis.com/archy/ -- as it contains a number of Marquis' poems and a fine introduction to this book.
June 20, 2022
I sincerly believe this book shouldn't be overlooked.
October 31, 2013
Had I read the back of this book, I would have never read the book itself. A cockroach that writes poems on a typewriter and his cat friend---sounds insipid and revolting doesn't it? However this book is a marvelous oddity which strays far away from cutesiness. It's one of those works where the schtick doesn't take over the rest of the text. Granted, this was never MEANT to be a book in the first place--if I recall correctly this started out as something that showed up in newspapers.
February 2, 2008
Don Marquis was a newspaper man from the early 20th Century who came up with this series of free verse poems about a cockaroach who's the reincarnation of a verse libre poet. His comic and sad tales of life in the alley with Mehitabel the cat and an assorted cast of unsavory characters stands up over the years because the poetry makes you laugh and think and the personalities in the work are vivid and true.
February 11, 2010
Charming, surprising, funny and sad. Where else will you find a mummy greet a cockroach as "scatter legged scarab." Supposedly this free verse was just filler for a columnist. Ha. It's also a big reminder of how much more we used to expect from our newspaper readers. I checked the dictionary more than once.
Good social commentary.
Good social commentary.
July 16, 2023
ENGLISH: I wanted to read this book, which I have known for a long time, but until now I had not had the opportunity. Reading the Essays by E.B. White increased my wish, so I bought it and now have read it.
The book has disappointed me. There are tasty articles, like The Dissipated Hornet, which correctly criticize human activities, but there are others too nihilistic for my taste, like Warty Bliggens, the Toad.
ESPAÑOL: Tenía ganas de leer esta obra, que conozco desde hace mucho tiempo, pero hasta ahora no había tenido oportunidad de hacerlo. La lectura de los Ensayos de E.B. White aumentó mi deseo, me la compré y la he leído.
El libro me ha decepcionado un poco. Hay artículos sabrosos, como el de la Avispa Borracha, que critican correctamente actividades humanas, pero hay otros demasiado nihilistas para mi gusto, como el de Warty Bliggens, el Sapo.
The book has disappointed me. There are tasty articles, like The Dissipated Hornet, which correctly criticize human activities, but there are others too nihilistic for my taste, like Warty Bliggens, the Toad.
ESPAÑOL: Tenía ganas de leer esta obra, que conozco desde hace mucho tiempo, pero hasta ahora no había tenido oportunidad de hacerlo. La lectura de los Ensayos de E.B. White aumentó mi deseo, me la compré y la he leído.
El libro me ha decepcionado un poco. Hay artículos sabrosos, como el de la Avispa Borracha, que critican correctamente actividades humanas, pero hay otros demasiado nihilistas para mi gusto, como el de Warty Bliggens, el Sapo.
April 26, 2021
I stumbled across Archy and Mehitabel in junior high, and fell in love. I was reminded of this love when Archy and Mehitabel showed up on J Mustich's 1000 Book To Read Before You Die. I had to hunt down the book, grabbing vendors by the ankles as they stalked by on Ebay. Finally, a book was obtained with minimal loss of blood. (The one I am currently hunting is sonnets to a red-haired lady and famous love affairs.) How can anyone resist this? Written in 1927 by Donald Robert Perry Marquis, it goes something like this:
Deep on a midnight in a downtown empty office, a cockroach is dying to write. Why? Because in one of his previous lives he was a free vers poet [sic], an artistic spirit now contained in the body of a cockroach, and finds himself facing the manual typewriter of a newspaper reporter. A man of habit, at the end of each day he always loaded his typewriter with a clean sheet, bright and white for his next assignment. Archy considered the machine in its attitude of readiness. A number of bruises and bangs later, he works out a way to dive onto keys with his full cockroachy weight, enough to imprint the letter on paper the loaded in the cartridge. From there it is a jumping-from- key-to-key exercise. The carriage return is absolute murder.
Referring to said reporter as "boss," Archy introduces himself, explaining his reason for no punctuation. On a manual typewriter, capital letters require two fingers, as does anything on the "shift" part of the keyboard - question marks, exclamation points, underscores. Archy finds the physical exertion of managing to record the few words he can, sufficient; he trusts boss will fill in the blanks.
Boss is surprised, and is sure it is some coworker playing a joke (all is denied). . .but makes sure to leave paper loaded, to see what happens the next day. Every night wisdom, or a story, or a report of newsworthy action that is missed by the self-centered-one-view humans. Sometimes it is philosophy or history from past lives or even gossip from around the corner, especially if it concerns Mehitabel.
He's attached to his feline friend Mehitabel because she is the coolest cat around. Jaded, jazz blue, experienced, wise through-and-through, rough around all the best edges. . .yet Archy loves to find and reveal her soft spots, her vulnerabilities and predictable foolishness when it comes to romance (implied quotes). And yes, in one of her previous lives she was Cleopatra.
Here's a little tidbit left with others one particular night:
insects have
their own point
of view about
civilization a man
thinks he amounts
to a great deal
but to a
flea or a
mosquito a
human being is
merely something
good to eat
boss the other day
i heard an
ant conversing
with a flea
small talk i said
disgustedly
and went away
from there
i do not see why men
should be so proud
insects have the more
ancient lineage
according to the scientists
insects were insects
when man was only
a burbling whatisit
insects are not always
going to be bullied
by humanity
some day they will revolt
i am already organizing
a revolutionary society to be
known as the worms turnverein
I once heard the survivors
of a colony of ants
that had been partially
obliterated by a cow s foot
seriously debating
the intention of the gods
towards their civilization
the bees got their
governmental system settled
millions of years ago
but the human race is still
groping
there is always
something to be thankful
for you would not
think that a cockroach
had much ground
for optimism
but as the fishing season
opens up i grow
more and more
cheerful at the thought
that nobody ever got
the notion of using
cockroaches for bait
archy
Who can resist this? Not I, dear Reader. Not I. This is what happens when one reads old, old books. You fall in love with dead people.
Deep on a midnight in a downtown empty office, a cockroach is dying to write. Why? Because in one of his previous lives he was a free vers poet [sic], an artistic spirit now contained in the body of a cockroach, and finds himself facing the manual typewriter of a newspaper reporter. A man of habit, at the end of each day he always loaded his typewriter with a clean sheet, bright and white for his next assignment. Archy considered the machine in its attitude of readiness. A number of bruises and bangs later, he works out a way to dive onto keys with his full cockroachy weight, enough to imprint the letter on paper the loaded in the cartridge. From there it is a jumping-from- key-to-key exercise. The carriage return is absolute murder.
Referring to said reporter as "boss," Archy introduces himself, explaining his reason for no punctuation. On a manual typewriter, capital letters require two fingers, as does anything on the "shift" part of the keyboard - question marks, exclamation points, underscores. Archy finds the physical exertion of managing to record the few words he can, sufficient; he trusts boss will fill in the blanks.
Boss is surprised, and is sure it is some coworker playing a joke (all is denied). . .but makes sure to leave paper loaded, to see what happens the next day. Every night wisdom, or a story, or a report of newsworthy action that is missed by the self-centered-one-view humans. Sometimes it is philosophy or history from past lives or even gossip from around the corner, especially if it concerns Mehitabel.
He's attached to his feline friend Mehitabel because she is the coolest cat around. Jaded, jazz blue, experienced, wise through-and-through, rough around all the best edges. . .yet Archy loves to find and reveal her soft spots, her vulnerabilities and predictable foolishness when it comes to romance (implied quotes). And yes, in one of her previous lives she was Cleopatra.
Here's a little tidbit left with others one particular night:
insects have
their own point
of view about
civilization a man
thinks he amounts
to a great deal
but to a
flea or a
mosquito a
human being is
merely something
good to eat
boss the other day
i heard an
ant conversing
with a flea
small talk i said
disgustedly
and went away
from there
i do not see why men
should be so proud
insects have the more
ancient lineage
according to the scientists
insects were insects
when man was only
a burbling whatisit
insects are not always
going to be bullied
by humanity
some day they will revolt
i am already organizing
a revolutionary society to be
known as the worms turnverein
I once heard the survivors
of a colony of ants
that had been partially
obliterated by a cow s foot
seriously debating
the intention of the gods
towards their civilization
the bees got their
governmental system settled
millions of years ago
but the human race is still
groping
there is always
something to be thankful
for you would not
think that a cockroach
had much ground
for optimism
but as the fishing season
opens up i grow
more and more
cheerful at the thought
that nobody ever got
the notion of using
cockroaches for bait
archy
Who can resist this? Not I, dear Reader. Not I. This is what happens when one reads old, old books. You fall in love with dead people.
March 22, 2012
i forgot how much i loved you, archy, until i read you again. what prompted my reading is silly, and so utterly appropriate-- yes, i typed without an apostrophe. rueful at first, and then remembering you.
archy's origins from the first don marquis column that saved his job, his best introduction.
***
"Dobbs Ferry posseses a rat which slips out of his lair at night and runs a typewriting machine in a garage. Unfortunately, he has always been interrupted by the watchman before he could produce a complete story.
It was at first thought that the power which made the typewriter run was a ghost, instead of a rat. It seems likely to us that it was both a ghost and a rat. Mme. Blavatsky's ego went into a white horse after she passed over, and someone's personality has undoubtedly gone into this rat. It is an era of belief in communications from the spirit land.
And since this matter had been reportedin the public prints nd seriously received we are no longer afraid of being ridiculted, and we do not mind making a statement of something that happened to our own typewriter a couple of weeks ago.
We came into our room earlier than usual in the morning and discovered a giagantic cockroach jumping about upon the keys.
He did not see us, and we watched him. He would climb painfully upon the framework of the machine and cast himself with all his force upon a key, head downward, and his weight and the impact of the blow were just sufficient to operate the machine, one slow letter after another. He could not work the capital letters, and he had a great deal of difficulty operating the mechanism that shifts the paper so that a fresh line may be started. We never saw a cockroach work so hard or perspire so freely in all our lives before. After about an hour of this frightfully difficult literary labor he fell to the floor exhausted, and we saw him creep feebly into a nest of poems which are always there in profusion.
Congratulating ourself that we had left a sheet of paper in the machine the night before so that all this work had not been in vain, we made an examination and this is what we found:
expression is the need of my soul
i was once a vers libre bard
but i died and my soul went into the body of a cockroach
it has given me a new outlook upon life
i see things from the under side now
thank you for the apple peelings in the wastepaper basket
but your paste is getting so stale i cant eat it
there is a cat here called mehitabel i wish you would have
removed she nearly ate me the other night why dont she
catch rats that is what she is supposed to be for
there is a rat here she should get without delay.
most of these rats here are just rats
but this rat is like me he has a human soul in him
he used to be a poet himself
night after night i have written poetry for you
on your typewriter
and this big brute of a rat who used to be a poet
comes out of his hole when it is done
and reads it and sniffs at it
he is jealous of my poetry
he used to make fun of it when we were both human
he was a punk poet himself
and after he has read it he sneers
and then he eats it
i wish you would have mehitabel kill that rat
or get a cat that is onto her job
and i will write you a series of poems showing how things look
to a cockroach
that rats name is freddy
the next time freddy dies i hope he wont be a rat
but something smaller i hope i will be a rat
in the next transmigration and freddy a cockroach
i will teach him to sneer at my poetry then
dont you ever eat any sandwiches in your office
i haven't had a crumb of bread for i dont know how long
or a piece of ham or anything but apple parings
and paste leave a piece of paper in your machine
every night you can call me archy "
***
and that's just the beginning. we weren't even formally introduced to that crazy corybantic cat, mehitabel. :)
archy's origins from the first don marquis column that saved his job, his best introduction.
***
"Dobbs Ferry posseses a rat which slips out of his lair at night and runs a typewriting machine in a garage. Unfortunately, he has always been interrupted by the watchman before he could produce a complete story.
It was at first thought that the power which made the typewriter run was a ghost, instead of a rat. It seems likely to us that it was both a ghost and a rat. Mme. Blavatsky's ego went into a white horse after she passed over, and someone's personality has undoubtedly gone into this rat. It is an era of belief in communications from the spirit land.
And since this matter had been reportedin the public prints nd seriously received we are no longer afraid of being ridiculted, and we do not mind making a statement of something that happened to our own typewriter a couple of weeks ago.
We came into our room earlier than usual in the morning and discovered a giagantic cockroach jumping about upon the keys.
He did not see us, and we watched him. He would climb painfully upon the framework of the machine and cast himself with all his force upon a key, head downward, and his weight and the impact of the blow were just sufficient to operate the machine, one slow letter after another. He could not work the capital letters, and he had a great deal of difficulty operating the mechanism that shifts the paper so that a fresh line may be started. We never saw a cockroach work so hard or perspire so freely in all our lives before. After about an hour of this frightfully difficult literary labor he fell to the floor exhausted, and we saw him creep feebly into a nest of poems which are always there in profusion.
Congratulating ourself that we had left a sheet of paper in the machine the night before so that all this work had not been in vain, we made an examination and this is what we found:
expression is the need of my soul
i was once a vers libre bard
but i died and my soul went into the body of a cockroach
it has given me a new outlook upon life
i see things from the under side now
thank you for the apple peelings in the wastepaper basket
but your paste is getting so stale i cant eat it
there is a cat here called mehitabel i wish you would have
removed she nearly ate me the other night why dont she
catch rats that is what she is supposed to be for
there is a rat here she should get without delay.
most of these rats here are just rats
but this rat is like me he has a human soul in him
he used to be a poet himself
night after night i have written poetry for you
on your typewriter
and this big brute of a rat who used to be a poet
comes out of his hole when it is done
and reads it and sniffs at it
he is jealous of my poetry
he used to make fun of it when we were both human
he was a punk poet himself
and after he has read it he sneers
and then he eats it
i wish you would have mehitabel kill that rat
or get a cat that is onto her job
and i will write you a series of poems showing how things look
to a cockroach
that rats name is freddy
the next time freddy dies i hope he wont be a rat
but something smaller i hope i will be a rat
in the next transmigration and freddy a cockroach
i will teach him to sneer at my poetry then
dont you ever eat any sandwiches in your office
i haven't had a crumb of bread for i dont know how long
or a piece of ham or anything but apple parings
and paste leave a piece of paper in your machine
every night you can call me archy "
***
and that's just the beginning. we weren't even formally introduced to that crazy corybantic cat, mehitabel. :)
November 15, 2023
Just an outstanding book, and a direct ancestor of Calvin and Hobbes. Very funny, but also touching, wise and literary, (although I could have used more Archy and less Mehitabel).
you want to know
whether i believe in ghosts
of course i do not believe in them
if you had known
as many of them as i have
you would not
believe in them either
gods what a heart breaking pathos
to be always doomed to the comic
o make me a cockroach entirely
or make me a human once more
give me the mind of a cockroach
or give me the shape of a man
And also surprised to see this, just weeks after a short trip to Khartoum:
i am as sad
as the song
of a soudanese jackal
who is wailing for the blood red
moon he cannot reach and rip
I think I read this back in high school but totally forgot until a Goodreads friend reminded me. BTW, there are a number of Archy books listed on Goodreads, but from the descriptions I can't tell if they are different collections of just the same poems republished. Can anyone recommend any of the others: The Lives and Times of Archy and Mehitabel; Archyology; the Best of Archy and Mehitabel, etc.?
you want to know
whether i believe in ghosts
of course i do not believe in them
if you had known
as many of them as i have
you would not
believe in them either
gods what a heart breaking pathos
to be always doomed to the comic
o make me a cockroach entirely
or make me a human once more
give me the mind of a cockroach
or give me the shape of a man
And also surprised to see this, just weeks after a short trip to Khartoum:
i am as sad
as the song
of a soudanese jackal
who is wailing for the blood red
moon he cannot reach and rip
I think I read this back in high school but totally forgot until a Goodreads friend reminded me. BTW, there are a number of Archy books listed on Goodreads, but from the descriptions I can't tell if they are different collections of just the same poems republished. Can anyone recommend any of the others: The Lives and Times of Archy and Mehitabel; Archyology; the Best of Archy and Mehitabel, etc.?
July 17, 2014
A friend at work suggested this as one of her favorite books in the world. I didn't hate it, but I wasn't particularly amused or charmed, either. I thought the gimmick got old quickly. I suppose there are people who look at The Complete Calvin and Hobbes and tire of the kid thinking the tiger is real, too.
November 5, 2010
my best girlfriend and i loved this when we were in high school. archy is a cockroach who types by hopping from key to key on the typewriter, so he can't capitalize anything, and there are some punctuation marks he can't use. mehitabel is his feline friend. very clever and amusing.
February 25, 2016
Some wonderful poems, and a few truly brilliant ones, in a really endearing premise.
May 13, 2014
First appearing in 1927 Don Marquis and his clever free verse poem of
Archy and Mehitabel
, Archy the mad typist "poet" cockroach and his kitty friend Mehitabel who was Cleopatra in her past life entertain the reader and remain a classic in American literature.
So happy this was made available in digital format, always readily available to make me smile and chuckle endlessly.
Archy
"the lesson of the moth
i was talking to a moth
the other evening
he was trying to break into
an electric light bulb
and fry himself on the wires
why do you fellows
pull this stunt i asked him
because it is the conventional
thing for moths or why
if that had been an uncovered
candle instead of an electric
light bulb you would
now be a small unsightly cinder
have you no sense
plenty of it he answered
but at times we get tired
of using it
we get bored with the routine
and crave beauty
and excitement
fire is beautiful
and we know that if we get
too close it will kill us
but what does that matter
it is better to be happy
for a moment
and be burned up with beauty
than to live a long time
and be bored all the while
so we wad all our life up
into one little roll
and then we shoot the roll
that is what life is for
it is better to be a part of beauty
for one instant and then cease to
exist than to exist forever
and never be a part of beauty
our attitude toward life
is come easy go easy
we are like human beings
used to be before they became
too civilized to enjoy themselves
and before i could argue him
out of his philosophy
he went and immolated himself
on a patent cigar lighter
i do not agree with him
myself i would rather have
half the happiness and twice
the longevity
but at the same time i wish
there was something i wanted
as badly as he wanted to fry himself"
archy
Archy & Mehitabel
So happy this was made available in digital format, always readily available to make me smile and chuckle endlessly.
Archy
"the lesson of the moth
i was talking to a moth
the other evening
he was trying to break into
an electric light bulb
and fry himself on the wires
why do you fellows
pull this stunt i asked him
because it is the conventional
thing for moths or why
if that had been an uncovered
candle instead of an electric
light bulb you would
now be a small unsightly cinder
have you no sense
plenty of it he answered
but at times we get tired
of using it
we get bored with the routine
and crave beauty
and excitement
fire is beautiful
and we know that if we get
too close it will kill us
but what does that matter
it is better to be happy
for a moment
and be burned up with beauty
than to live a long time
and be bored all the while
so we wad all our life up
into one little roll
and then we shoot the roll
that is what life is for
it is better to be a part of beauty
for one instant and then cease to
exist than to exist forever
and never be a part of beauty
our attitude toward life
is come easy go easy
we are like human beings
used to be before they became
too civilized to enjoy themselves
and before i could argue him
out of his philosophy
he went and immolated himself
on a patent cigar lighter
i do not agree with him
myself i would rather have
half the happiness and twice
the longevity
but at the same time i wish
there was something i wanted
as badly as he wanted to fry himself"
archy
Archy & Mehitabel
November 23, 2007
this is part of my list of all time favorites. I nver leave home without a copy. A vers libre poet transmigrates into the body of a cockaroach and becomes the eyes and voice of the "people" through the perspective of a maligned insect. he manages to continue his writings by butting his head onto each key of the typewriter that is at his disposal. it is painstaking work and due to the difficulties in shifting and the mechanics of captalization, his work is sans uppercase and punctuation. Along his way he encounters many characters. Mehitabel being the predominant of his inter-speciel communicants. She is an alley cat. Not just any common alley cat, no. she was once Cleopatra, so she claims. Her motto is Toujours Gai! Theres a dance in the old dame yet. she is a cross between Clare Bow, Jean Harlow and the hooker with a heart of gold. In her words, "always a lady." the gangsters moll and a true bon vivant. Archy narrates her adventuresome life and is a social commentator of exemplary skill. The lives and times of archy and mehitabel is a must. Pick up a copy in any of the wonderful incarnations.
January 1, 2009
Poetry. Archy's a cockroach with the soul of a vers libre poet, and Mehitabel's a cat who claims to be the reincarnation of Cleopatra. Archy uses a typewriter to composes poetry, but he can't reach the shift key.
The subject matter gets repetitive, but the poetry itself is fantastic -- free-flowing, jerky, unpunctuated prose with unpredictable linebreaks. I preferred the Archy poems over the Mehitabel ones and "archy hears from mars" was my absolute favorite. I also enjoyed "aesop revised by archy," "the lesson of the moth," and "archy at the tomb of napoleon."
Three stars, almost entirely for the fun of the prose. Marquis was ahead of his time. He would have fit in well with the City Lights crowd.
The subject matter gets repetitive, but the poetry itself is fantastic -- free-flowing, jerky, unpunctuated prose with unpredictable linebreaks. I preferred the Archy poems over the Mehitabel ones and "archy hears from mars" was my absolute favorite. I also enjoyed "aesop revised by archy," "the lesson of the moth," and "archy at the tomb of napoleon."
Three stars, almost entirely for the fun of the prose. Marquis was ahead of his time. He would have fit in well with the City Lights crowd.
February 4, 2008
I'm putting this is my "read" section, though I have not finished reading it, only because it no longer belongs in my "currently reading" section, as I am not reading it any longer. I do not like it enough to finish it. I was trying to persevere and see the humour and genius, but I only found it annoying and boring. I do not care to read the word "wotthehell" again, especially not in the context of free verse poetry that is often made to rhyme. I guess the philosophical musings of a flea are not for me.
February 21, 2011
There is nothing I can say that the website (www.donmarquis.com/archy/) doesn't say better and more completely. Suffice to say that Archie was a vers libre poet in a previous existence and has been reincarnated as a cockroach; Mehitabel is an alley cat with the morals of, well, an alley cat, who is convinced she was once Cleopatra and their adventures are as funny and fresh as they were when first published over 80 years ago in the USA. It is gentle fun but with some sharp insights into the human condition.
April 5, 2015
I found it helpful to know that it is social commentary (and newspaper space-filler) on daily life in the city during the 1910s and 1920s from a cockroach and a cat.
September 28, 2018
Thanks, Geoff Wyss, for putting the name of this one in front of me. It reads like Marianne Moore writing bathroom graffiti, and it's terrific.
Read
May 20, 2024i like that little guy
July 25, 2025
Always funny, and occasionally (if cryptically) profound
I first read Archy and Mehitabel as a high-school student. My aunt from New York City, Aunt Althea, who always knew the hottest new books, recommended it to my family, and it went through us like a Covid outbreak, but with far more pleasing results. (I am not sure what brought A&M to Aunt Althea's attention, as it was published in 1916.)
The premise of A&M is that Don Marquis hears the sound of typing from his office one night. He checks it out and finds that a cockroach is operating the typewriter by climbing up on the carriage and leaping head-first onto the keys. (By the way, I am old enough to have used mechanical typewriters, and I can tell you with absolute certainty, this would not work. So, I have the unpleasant duty of informing you that A&M is fiction.) A&M consists of these missives from the cockroach, who calls himself Archy. In addition, there are pen and ink drawings (presumably by Marquis) to illustrate most of the chapters. Archy is a Vers Libre poet reincarnated into the body of a cockroach. He implies more than once that his transmigration into a cockroach is "punishment" for being a Vers Libre poet -- why that deserves punishment is entirely a mystery to me.
Archy tells of several other characters around New York that he talks with. The most important of these, of course, is an alley cat called Mehitabel. Mehitabel claims to have been Cleopatra in a past life. Archy suspects (and he's clearly right) that Mehitabel just made this up. Mehitabel knows no more about Cleopatra than her name and that she was a queen of Egypt. Mehitabel likes to think of herself as an artist and a lady, but she has no more idea of how to be those things than how to be Cleopatra. My favorite Mehitabel quote is "to hell with anything unrefined has always been my motto".
There are some other characters in the cast, but Archy and Mehitabel are definitely the main draws. Anyway, it's heaps of fun.
Blog review.
I first read Archy and Mehitabel as a high-school student. My aunt from New York City, Aunt Althea, who always knew the hottest new books, recommended it to my family, and it went through us like a Covid outbreak, but with far more pleasing results. (I am not sure what brought A&M to Aunt Althea's attention, as it was published in 1916.)
The premise of A&M is that Don Marquis hears the sound of typing from his office one night. He checks it out and finds that a cockroach is operating the typewriter by climbing up on the carriage and leaping head-first onto the keys. (By the way, I am old enough to have used mechanical typewriters, and I can tell you with absolute certainty, this would not work. So, I have the unpleasant duty of informing you that A&M is fiction.) A&M consists of these missives from the cockroach, who calls himself Archy. In addition, there are pen and ink drawings (presumably by Marquis) to illustrate most of the chapters. Archy is a Vers Libre poet reincarnated into the body of a cockroach. He implies more than once that his transmigration into a cockroach is "punishment" for being a Vers Libre poet -- why that deserves punishment is entirely a mystery to me.
Archy tells of several other characters around New York that he talks with. The most important of these, of course, is an alley cat called Mehitabel. Mehitabel claims to have been Cleopatra in a past life. Archy suspects (and he's clearly right) that Mehitabel just made this up. Mehitabel knows no more about Cleopatra than her name and that she was a queen of Egypt. Mehitabel likes to think of herself as an artist and a lady, but she has no more idea of how to be those things than how to be Cleopatra. My favorite Mehitabel quote is "to hell with anything unrefined has always been my motto".
There are some other characters in the cast, but Archy and Mehitabel are definitely the main draws. Anyway, it's heaps of fun.
Blog review.
April 18, 2008
This book is a compilation of the columns that Don Marquis wrote during the prohibition. The main character is Archy, a cockroach who communicates by jumping on typewriter keys. He writes stories about his life as a cockroach and his former life as a writer. The other featured character is Mehitabel a female alley cat who bemoans many parts of her existence, but mostly the kittens that she never wanted to have.
Obviously everything must be a metaphor for something else as prohibition was a time of strict governmental control. Illegal drinking and drug use are all over this book as well as some very insightful questions of the roles we play in society.
My favorite thing about this book is debating with other people who have read it who the character Archy was in his former life. He was a writer and the general time frame of his other life is often mentioned in the stories.
I hope all writers are not reincarnated as cockroaches...
Obviously everything must be a metaphor for something else as prohibition was a time of strict governmental control. Illegal drinking and drug use are all over this book as well as some very insightful questions of the roles we play in society.
My favorite thing about this book is debating with other people who have read it who the character Archy was in his former life. He was a writer and the general time frame of his other life is often mentioned in the stories.
I hope all writers are not reincarnated as cockroaches...
July 8, 2015
I read about this book somewhere, and now wish I could remember where it was as it was such a remarkable little read. i've read numerous pieces of it aloud to whoever would listen, such is its cleverness. Written as free verse through the eyes of Archy the cockroach and Mehitabel the cat, with many other creatures included. I particularly loved the lesson of the moth. "We get bored with the routine / and crave beauty / and excitement / fire is beautiful / and we know that if we get / too close it will kill us / but what dos that matter / it is better to be happy / for a moment / and be burned up with beauty / than to live a long time / and be bored all the while."
Lessons in life, new ways of looking at the world, a little gem.
Lessons in life, new ways of looking at the world, a little gem.
May 10, 2010
The back cover copy claims this is a book of poetry and that it is art. It is neither, but the conceit of a cockroach who writes about a snooty cat is fun. Though the stories are uneven, some are wonderful fun. A very few actually are poems, while the rest are just typed on the page like poetry. George Herriman's illustrations are wonderful, and the reason to get this edition or another that has them. There are extensive Shakespeare references on pages 75,92-3, 110, 115-9, 120-1, 125-7, 140, 159, and 176. A Ben Jonson reference is on page 174.
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