Many writers have written poetry about their pets, and who can blame them? Animals are a constant source of inspiration, entertainment, and adoration, especially when they so conveniently live in our houses. Among the many poems that could have been chosen, the poems here are renowned for their famous authors and for their insights into the most prominent characteristics of the pets they describe. Without further ado, here are the three poems that have been selected to represent the wide variety of pets and poets:
“The Naming of Cats” by T. S. Eliot
The Naming of Cats is a difficult matter,
It isn’t just one of your holiday games;
You may think at first I’m as mad as a hatter
When I tell you, a cat must have THREE DIFFERENT NAMES.
First of all, there’s the name that the family use daily,
Such as Peter, Augustus, Alonzo, or James,
Such as Victor or Jonathan, George or Bill Bailey—
All of them sensible everyday names.
There are fancier names if you think they sound sweeter,
Some for the gentlemen, some for the dames:
Such as Plato, Admetus, Electra, Demeter—
But all of them sensible everyday names,
But I tell you, a cat needs a name that’s particular,
A name that’s peculiar, and more dignified,
Else how can he keep up his tail perpendicular,
Or spread out his whiskers, or cherish his pride?
Of names of this kind, I can give you a quorum,
Such as Munkustrap, Quaxo, or Coricopat,
Such as Bombalurina, or else Jellylorum—
Names that never belong to more than one cat.
But above and beyond there’s still one name left over,
And that is the name that you never will guess;
The name that no human research can discover—
But THE CAT HIMSELF KNOWS, and will never confess.
When you notice a cat in profound meditation,
The reason, I tell you, is always the same:
His mind is engaged in a rapt contemplation
Of the thought, of the thought, of the thought of his name:
His ineffable effable
Effanineffable
Deep and inscrutable singular name.
T. S. Eliot, one of the first modern poets, is remembered for a collection of cat poems, Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, which he wrote for his grandchildren. Readers of “The Naming of Cats” will, of course, be hard-pressed to recall any cats they have met with names like Jellylorum. This poem is a jewel because it’s so ludicrous and yet accurately describes the personality of a cat. Who hasn’t seen cats basking luxuriously as if in worship of their own unimaginable glory?
From Jubilate Agno, Fragment B by Christopher Smart
For I will consider my Cat Jeoffry.
For he is the servant of the Living God, duly and daily serving him.
For at the first glance of the glory of God in the East he worships in his way.
For is this done by wreathing his body seven times round with elegant quickness.
For then he leaps up to catch the musk, which is the blessing of God upon his prayer.
For he rolls upon prank to work it in.
For having done duty and received blessing he begins to consider himself.
For this he performs in ten degrees.
For first he looks upon his forepaws to see if they are clean.
For secondly he kicks up behind to clear away there.
For thirdly he works it upon stretch with the forepaws extended.
For fourthly he sharpens his paws by wood.
For fifthly he washes himself.
For sixthly he rolls upon wash.
For seventhly he fleas himself, that he may not be interrupted upon the beat.
For eighthly he rubs himself against a post.
For ninthly he looks up for his instructions.
For tenthly he goes in quest of food.
For having considered God and himself he will consider his neighbor.
For if he meets another cat he will kiss her in kindness.
For when he takes his prey he plays with it to give it a chance.
For one mouse in seven escapes by his dallying.
For when his day’s work is done his business more properly begins.
For he keeps the Lord’s watch in the night against the adversary.
For he counteracts the powers of darkness by his electrical skin and glaring eyes.
For he counteracts the Devil, who is death, by brisking about the life.
For in his morning orisons he loves the sun and the sun loves him.
For he is of the tribe of Tiger.
For the Cherub Cat is a term of the Angel Tiger.
For he has the subtlety and hissing of a serpent, which in goodness he suppresses.
For he will not do destruction if he is well-fed, neither will he spit without provocation.
For he purrs in thankfulness when God tells him he’s a good Cat.
Christopher Smart was among the many artists who suffered from mental illness, and unfortunately during the period in which he lived, the only known solution was to confine him in an institution. During his confinement, he wrote many religious-based works, including a well-known homage to his cat, Jeoffry. Smart’s cat poem gives us the opposite side of Eliot’s cats: Jeoffry is not a self-servient deity but a dutiful worshiper of God in all his daily activities. He still has an element of sacrosanctity– “electrical skin and glaring eyes” ferocious enough to ward off the Devil! However, Jeoffry is nonetheless a “good Cat.” And when reading this poem, one can’t help but enjoy the thought that God loves a good cat just as much as any human owner.
“Dharma” by Billy Collins
The way the dog trots out the front door
every morning
without a hat or an umbrella,
without any money
or the keys to her dog house
never fails to fill the saucer of my heart
with milky admiration.
Who provides a finer example
of life without encumbrance?…
…Off she goes into the material world
with nothing but her brown coat
and her modest blue collar,
following only her wet nose,
the twin portals of her steady breathing,
followed only by the plume of her tail.
If only she did not shove the cat aside
every morning
and eat all his food
what a model of self-containment she would be,
what a paragon of earthly detachment.
If only she were not so eager
for a rub behind the ears,
so acrobatic in her welcomes,
if only I were not her god.
Billy Collins is a famous contemporary author who has acted as Poet Laureate of the United States, among other honors. Admirers praise his dog poems, which provide an unusual glimpse into the facets of life as a pet. In this poem, Collins shows that dogs too are a bit contradictory, just like cats. They are free of earthly cares and wants, except, of course, for a good scratch on the belly. They have no obligations and are not selfish or greedy, except for when they lay in adoration at their owner’s feet or steal food!
These poems together offer a fairly well-rounded picture of two creatures who somehow reign freely in our homes. However, there are certainly other kinds of pets and pet-lovers in the world, such as those who photograph their tortoises’ birthdays and write books about their guinea pigs’ adventures. So as not to exclude them, they are free to share poems or other works of art starring their preferred species in the comments below!
Photo Credit: https://www.istockphoto.com/photos/dog-writing
Sources:
“About Christopher Smart.” Poets.org, Academy of American Poets, https://poets.org/poet/christopher-smart.
Collins, Billy. “Dharma by Billy Collins.” Poetry Foundation, Poetry Foundation, 2022, https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/browse?contentId=40285.
Eliot, T. S. “The Naming of Cats by T. S. Eliot.” Poets.org, Academy of American Poets, https://poets.org/poem/naming-cats.
Smart, Christopher. “Jubilate Agno, Fragment B, [For I Will Consider My Cat Jeoffry] by Christopher Smart.” Poets.org, Academy of American Poets, https://poets.org/poem/jubilate-agno-fragment-b-i-will-consider-my-cat-jeoffry.