Sequels included archys life of mehitabel 1933 and archy does his part 1935, both of which were included in the lives and times of archy and mehitabel 1940. At nights, archy crawls onto a typewriter and slowly crafts his poetry by slamming his body onto the keys, one letter at a time. Mehitabel and her kittens by don marquis the writers almanac. More kittens quotes what in hellhave i done to deserveall these kittens. Decades ago, i heard garrison keillor do a marquis monologue about mehitabel and her kittens on the prairie home companion, and i was intrigued.
Don marquis, archy and mehitabel, hermione, the old soak. He writes poetry to her, and tries to keep her on the straight and narrow. This beloved illustrated classic tells the tale of archy, a philosophical cockroach, and mehitabel, a cat in her ninth life. A kitten of great price conclusion adventures in cheeseland. Archy and mehitabel styled as archy and mehitabel are the names of two fictional characters created in 1916, by don marquis, a columnist for the evening sun newspaper in new york city. Archy and mehitabel is the creation of don marquis, a columnist for the new york tribune, who writes from the perspective of archy, a freeverse poet reincarnated as a cockroach. George herrimans illustrations of archy, the cockroach with the transmigrated soul of a vers libre poet, and mehitabel, the alley cat with the morals of, well. The coming of archy mehitabel was once cleopatra the song of mehitabel pity the poor spiders mehitabel s extensive past the cockroach who had been to hell archy interviews a pharaoh a spider and a fly freddy the rat perishes the merry flea why mehitabel jumped certain maxims of archy warty bliggens, the toad mehitabel. Shinbone alley is an obscure 1971 animated film based on the joe darion, mel brooks and george kleinsinger musical of the same name as well as the archy and mehitabel stories by don marquis the film tells the story of archy and mehitabel after the former, a new york city poet, commits suicide only to come back as a cockroach yes, really. Share elizabeth moons antagonists are always evil moustachetwirlers. Mehitabel claims to be a reincarnation of cleopatra, but now her wild adventures result only in litters of kittens. Disch brought to the sf of the new wave a camp sensibility and a sardonicism that too much sf had lacked.
I named her mehitabel after don marquis character, mehitabel, in archy and mehitabel, a collection of poetry, composed allegedly by a poet who was reincarnated as a cockroach. A poem by archy the poetic cockroach about his friend mehitabel, the morally careless cat. I feel mehitabel and duchess would have understood each other. He writes poetry to her and tries to keep her on the straight and narrow. Archy and mehitabel center theater the action of our play takes place on the seamy side of the big town, says the authors introduction to. Sep 26, 2018 archy persuades mehitabel to give up her life as an alley cat and support the kittens with a job as a house cat. While the other female cats of shinbone alley sing a lullaby to the kittens, mehitabel complains about how the babies are cramping her style and she talks about drowning them.
With carol channing, eddie bracken, alan reed, john carradine. He even gives up on an insect revolution that he started just so he can run to her side when he hears shes had kittens. When her kittens are born, mehitabel tells archy shed do anything to protect them. Be careful, theres a baby in the house rosalie sorrels. Archy and mehitabel was written by don marquis as a newpaper series for the the new york sun in the early 1920s. Jun 06, 2017 staged reading of don marquis archy the literary cockroach and mehitabel the alley cat at heliconian hall yorkville toronto may 30 2017 nonnie griffin as mehitabel, greg ragle as archy, david.
The best of archy and mehitabel by don marquis, hardcover. Kittens quotes quotes about kittens yourdictionary. The coming of archy mehitabel was once cleopatra the song of mehitabel pity the poor spiders mehitabel s extensive past the cockroach who had been to hell archy interviews a pharaoh a spider and a fly freddy the rat perishes the merry flea why mehitabel jumped certain maxims of archy warty bliggens the toad mehitabel. The best of archy and mehitabel don marquis read online. Mehitabel and her kittens, with a bit of vocabulary zipfs law. Before cats haunted our memory, shinbone alley did the. Archy arrives at the ash can nursery just as its begun to rain and water is collecting in the can. Mar 14, 2016 mehitabels ways eventually lead to her giving birth to a litter of kittens note that it is a mixed litter. Duma and mehitabel photo gallery by ann chaikin at. Mehitabel and her kittens, with a bit of vocabulary zipf. American public medias the writers almanac features garrison keillor recounting the highlights of this day in history and reads a short poem or two.
He dumps her twice, and the second one was after discovering she had kittens, thanks to him. The best of archy and mehitabel don marquis stuck in a book. While the other female cats of shinbone alley sing a lullaby to the kittens, mehitabel complains about how the babies are cramping her style. His sf novels include camp concentration, with its colony of prisoners mutated into superintelligence by the bacteria that will in due course kill them horribly, and on wings of song, in which many of the brightest and best have left their bodies for what may be genu. Donald robert perry marquis 18781937, was a newspaper columnist, humorist, poet, playwright and author of about 35 books of which the best known are books of humorous poetry about archy the cockroach and mehitabel the cat. She has kittens, and archy declares war in a george herriman sequence. Toujours gai is her motto, as well as theres a dance in the old dame yet, and always the lady. No matter how badly mehitabel treats him, he still sticks by her. The 26minute recording has always been an endless delight, with eddie bracken and carol channing in her beatnik phase perfect for the roles of archy and mehitabel. But mehitabel has a heartthrob, big bill the alleys tomcat voiced by the flintstones alan reed, and is now archys nemesis. I owe a debt of inspiration to the legendary don marquis and his poem mehitabel and her kittens 1927, which is also the source of the title. All the letters are in lower case because the author had to hit the keys on the typewriter with his head being a bug and was unable to find a way to hit the shift key at the same time. Archy pleads with mehitabel to save the little things from drowning, but she turns a deaf ear.
Mehitabel finds a home the wail of archy mehitabel and her kittens archy is shocked archy creates a situation mehitabel sings a song aesop revised by archy cheerio, my deario the lesson of the moth. Mehitabel is clearly a serviceable standin for the. Archy is a cockroach typing his stories not able to use the shift for capitals with the soul of a poet. The first episode sets the scene in shinbone alley where mehitabel and her feline friends are throwing a party, dancing among the rubbish bins and cardboard boxes, singing about their freewheeling life style. Their exploits were first collected in the 1927 book archy. Shinbone alley musical the golden throats wiki fandom. I wonder if that informed her reading of the mother love lullaby, in which mehitabel contemplates letting her kittens drown in an ashcan. She could write a book about a golf open and the main rival to the hero would turn out to have clubs made from compressed kittens. Mehitabel is a cat, and unsurprisingly my favourite of the few characters which enter the scene. When it comes to kittens, small is beautiful, so minnie makes a lovely name. Generations of readers have delighted in the work of the great american humorist don marquis. A newspaper man is reincarnated as a cockroach and makes friends with a freespirited female alley cat. The name of the cat in the free verse poem, archy and mehitabel. Mehitabel dives behind garbage pails with big bill alan reed, her latest uncaring fling, and emerges sometime later with a litter of kittens.
Of course, mehitabels romance with bill ended badly and she promise archy to change her wild ways. The mehitabel in this poem from 1927 is his closest friend, a morethanalittledisreputable cat. Archy persuades mehitabel to give up her life as an alley cat and support the kittens with a job as a house cat. Later, however, when archy comes to visit her in the upscale house, with her visibly changed by the experience, she reminds him that social class now separates them from being friends and kicks him outregretting it later. Animal planet by kathleen rooney poetry foundation. Mehitabels ways eventually lead to her giving birth to a litter of kittens note that it is a mixed litter. Archy, a cockroach, and mehitabel, an alley cat, appeared in hundreds of humorous verses and short stories in marquis daily column, the sun dial. Mehitabel and her kittens by don marquis the writers. Before cats haunted our memory, shinbone alley did. Scroll down to the bottom of the page for an explanation of the words to hamper, to be shy on, and tom cat.
Don marquis, archy and mehitabel, hermione, the old soak and more. Elizabeth moons antagonists are always evil moustachetwirlers. The lady cats of the neighborhood caterwaul a lullaby to the little ones, but mehitabel is not a joyful mother. Dons work appeared regularly in the new york sun and the saturday evening post, among other places. They think the kittens look exotic enough to be sold as purebred. Big bill the alley tom cat is mehits heartthrob, and archys nemesis. He is a loud, agressive tomcat who has no respect for mehitabel. Aug 21, 2002 mehitabel and her kittens well boss mehitabel the cat has reappeared in her old haunts with a flock of kittens three of them this time archy she says to me yesterday. A selection of the best of the hilarious freeverse poems by the irreverent cockroach poet archy and his alleycat pal mehitabel. In the 1927 poem mehitabel and her kittens, for instance, archy recounts a visit from his cat compatriot who has purposely avoided matrimony in the interests of the higher life and her latest batch of unwanted offspring.
Mehitabel and her kittens by don marquis, and the literary and historical notes for friday, october 22, 1993. Always a lady, in spite of hell rosefox the aristocats. Mehitabel the singing alley cat was wild, footloose and carefree, and that includes trusting herself with the biggest ahole cat in new york city, big bill. Mehitabel admits shes had her ups and downs, but shes still game. The lives and times of archy and mehitabel by don marquis. Stephin merritt on archy and mehitabel new york city center.