His brow is deeply lined with thought, his head is highly domed; His coat is dusty from neglect, his whiskers are uncombed. 4. From the book There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly. , it is a cat. And sang to a small guitar …. Rate this poem. in the cactus now perhaps among the avocado plants You will see me any morning in the park Reading the comics and the sporting page. She the earth she never knew A Little Language. “It's a poem of the moment, with almost no revision. The link provided above includes a good analysis of the poem. Why we have not developed into friends." Although the poem is anonymous, it bears similarities to the poetry of Sedulius Scottus, prompting speculation that he is the author. I had a friend named Ben No one to depend on but herself. Table of Contents. There never was a Cat of such deceitfulness and suavity. The cat will love it! There is also a challenge for young readers to keep track of how many letter A’s, B’s, C’s, etc. There was a crooked man, and he walked a crooked mile, He found a crooked sixpence against a crooked stile; He bought a crooked cat which caught a crooked mouse, And they all lived together in a little crooked house. and cats on the floor. There, they wait for their owners and greet them when they die: Cat Poems. Cleanse the sleek hide and form the fragrant bed …. and what if she should die some afternoon, Afternoon grey and smoky, evening yellow and rose; Should die and leave me sitting pen in hand With the smoke coming down above the housetops; Doubtful, for a while Not knowing what to feel or if I understand Or whether wise or foolish, tardy or too soon... Would she not have the advantage, after all? ‘Macavity, the Mystery Cat’ is one of the best-known poems in Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, about a feline master criminal (probably loosely based on Conan Doyle‘s Professor Moriarty – Eliot was a huge Sherlock Holmes fan). A Cat Named Sloopy Two rooms on Fifty-fifth Street but in my mind I was drawn in by short gasps, inhaled at each momentary recovery, lost finally in the dark caverns of her throat, bruised by the ripple of unseen muscles. My smile falls heavily among the bric-à-brac. Cat Poems Home Poems Nature Poems Animal Poems Cat Poems. Presumptuous maid! The Owl looked up to the stars above, 8. Two rooms on Fifty-fifth Street were her domain. The limericks capture cats perfectly. you are not blind! As she laughed I was aware of becoming involved in her laughter and being part of it, until her teeth were only accidental stars with a talent for squad-drill. Some are serious, others comic, and still others where a cat … He found a crooked sixpence upon a crooked stile. Rod McKuen There never was a Cat of such deceitfulness and suavity. II Now that lilacs are in bloom She has a bowl of lilacs in her room And twists one in his fingers while she talks. If you’d like to go in search of more great cat poems, the beautifully produced anthology, The Great Cat: Poems About Cats (Everyman’s Library Pocket Poets), contains many more feline classics, including W. B. Yeats’s Minnaloushe, Christopher Smart’s Jeoffry, Lewis Carroll’s Cheshire Cat, T. S. Eliot’s Rum Tum Tugger, and William Blake’s Tyger. nobody owned me but a cat named Sloopy. snatched her from the window sill, Sasha Steensen. The Owl and the Pussy-cat went to sea This in turn inspired the Andrew Lloyd-Webber musical Cats. "Perhaps you can write to me." There is a poem in a midnight sky. At first she pretends, having nothing to do, She has come in merely to blink by the grate, But, though tea may be late or the milk may be sour, She is never late. Enter your email address to subscribe to this site and receive notifications of new posts by email. I feel the need for a follow-up cat post coming on! He’s the bafflement of Scotland Yard, the Flying Squad’s despair: Macavity, Macavity, there’s no one like Macavity. (The poem was only first published in 1939.) Copyright © 1939 by T. S. Eliot, renewed © 1967 by Esme Valerie Eliot. What they think about you - their human? I don’t know why she swallowed a fly. There never was a Cat of such deceitfulness and suavity. I was able to hit that one note about the dark, how you can go into it and find its meaning if you just sit there long enough and live inside it.” —Stanley Plumly. What more can one say? but always coming home to Sloopy, My lover, my friend, my slave, my toy, says the cat making on your chest his gesture of drawing milk from his mother’s forgotten breasts. Cesare Pavese. was in her sandbox. There is a poem in a slice of cake Phew! How about the Yeats poem “The Cat and the Moon.”, Good call on the Yeats. And when the Foreign Office find a Treaty’s gone astray,Or the Admiralty lose some plans and drawings by the way,There may be a scrap of paper in the hall or on the stair—But it’s useless to investigate—Macavity’s not there!And when the loss has been disclosed, the Secret Service say:‘It must have been Macavity!’—but he’s a mile away.You’ll be sure to find him resting, or a-licking of his thumbs;Or engaged in doing complicated long division sums. Christopher ‘Kit’ Smart (1722-1771) was confined to a mental asylum for a number of years, and it was during his confinement that Smart wrote Jubilate Agno (‘Rejoice in the Lamb’), a religious poem composed between 1759 and 1763. It’s a beautiful land with meadows and hills. Macavity’s a ginger cat, he’s very tall and thin; You would know him if you saw him, for his eyes are sunken in. The Cats Will Know. 22-year-old guy shares his love for his cat Cheetah in his poem ‘Beautiful Predator’ By POP! Reblogged this on Animals are Wonderful and commented: When the tea is brought at five o'clock, And all the neat curtains are drawn with care, The little black cat with bright green eyes Is suddenly purring there. He always has an alibi, and one or two to spare: ... Krishnaa - I am not really fond of cats but this poem is so endearing and cute that I do not mind caring for a Macavity. He’s outwardly respectable. down Forty-second Street, There was a crooked man, and he walked a crooked mile.