Posted on 08/19/2016 8:24:55 PM PDT by poconopundit
The Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T. S. Eliot (1939) is one of most creative and fun collections of poetry ever written in the English tongue. With splendid illustrations by Edward Gorey, the book is very short -- only 56 pages.
The genius of this collection of 15 playful poems on the adventures of anthropromophic cats is that Eliot beautifully describes the many "personalities" of cats -- and humans, for that matter. Reading this is a cat lover's must.
These poems are part of our culture already: they inspired the Broadway musical CATS, for instance. And the late great actors, Jon Gielgud and Irene Worth, recorded a reading you can find on YouTube.
I had forgotten about this particular poem: Macavity: The Mystery Cat, but the parallels to this election cycle are so obvious I just had to post this.
Macavity: The Mystery Catby T. S. Eliot
Macavity's a Mystery Cat: he's called the Hidden Paw --
Macavity, Macavity, there's no one like Macavity,
Macavity's a ginger cat, he's very tall and thin;
Macavity, Macavity, there no one like Macavity.
He's outwardly respectable. (They say he cheats at cards.)
And when the Foreign Office finds a Treaty gone astray,
Macavity, Macavity, there no one like Macavity.
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My apologies for not getting the picture links correct. They are up now. Glad you all liked the poem...
We've got a couple plain-named cats at this house. Seems like I should take Eliot's advice and them a distinctive name deserving of their dignity as cats.
Hmm. What rhymes with Jellylorum?!
Awwwwwwwww. Cute pictures except of the old fat cat sitting in her diapers. Can’t love her. When she assumes room temperature people will put on red dresses and dance.
That took me back to “Logan’s Run!”
Mark
Hark! Is that the sound of rat’s feet on broken glass in yonder cellar?
The Horror!
My cultural education is missing Logan’s Run. Gonna watch that, V K. Thanks.
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