TO MRS. REYNOLDS' CAT - William Strode Poems

 
 

Poems » william strode » to mrs. reynolds cat

TO MRS. REYNOLDS' CAT
Cat! who hast pass'd thy grand climacteric,
  How many mice and rats hast in thy days
  Destroy'd? -- How many tit bits stolen? Gaze
With those bright languid segments green, and prick
Those velvet ears -- but pr'ythee do not stick
  Thy latent talons in me -- and upraise
  Thy gentle mew -- and tell me all thy frays
Of fish and mice, and rats and tender chick.

Nay, look not down, nor lick thy dainty wrists --
  For all the wheezy asthma, -- and for all
Thy tail's tip is nick'd off -- and though the fists
  Of many a maid have given thee many a maul,
Still is that fur as soft as when the lists
  In youth thou enter'dst on glass-bottled wall.

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