why do you fellows pull this stunt i asked him
the lesson of the moth by Don Marquis
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
One of my favorite books! This was in my parents’ collection, and I would read it over and over when I was too young to understand why the poems were so perfect. My parents would quote bits to be now and then, and I would love that I knew it was one of the “lower case poems”. I still enjoy reading this book.
Loved Archie and Mehitabel since I was in school – and that was a long long time ago.
Thanks so very much for this, Dana! I confess I was completely unfamiliar with Don Marquis’ work, and one really “spoke to my condition” today as my Quaker friends say!
I cannot urge you strongly enough to get the book and gulp it down. One of the best things in it is Don Marquis’ prologue, about his first encounter with archy. And later on when ArCHy discovers capitals.
Truer words. Thanks, Dana.