Spreading Light The poem the lesson of the moth written by Don Marquis is told using writing techniques that are unique and unusual. Marquis’s writing techniques are unusual because his poems and articles are told from the perspective of a fictional cockroach named Archy, and they have no included grammatical punctuations due to the character Archy’s short arms that is supposed to be writing Marquis’s work. The poem the lesson of the moth follows Archy’s conversation with a moth, as he inquires about the reasons all the moths throw themselves into certain death situations with dangerous light sources. The moth tries to explain to Archy that he believes life is more enjoyable with a come easy, go easy mindset. Once the moth finishes explaining his philosophy…show more content… In my opinion, the theme of the poem encourages people to live how they want. The poem gives context to two different types of lifestyles, and attempts to help us understand both. I believe that the theme of the poem was live how you want to live, and that the moths life philosophy questioned the point of living a long, mildly happy life, instead of living a short, happy life, that ends up fulfilling the persons ultimate wishes and letting them die happy and content. The authors tone during the moth’s explanation seems cautious and skeptical, and hints at a biased opinion against the moth’s life philosophy. The tone that Marquis expresses towards the end of the poem is a more contempt tone, as he expresses his personal life philosophy through the character Archy. Marquis’s personal life philosophy was that he would rather have twice the longevity and half the happiness