The Cat
My children, you should imitateThe harmless, necessary cat,Who eats whatever's on his plate,And doesn't even leave the fat;Who never stays in bed too late,Or does immoral things like that;Instead of saying, 'Shan't!' or 'Bosh!'He'll sit and wash, and wash, and wash!
When shadows fall and lights grow dim,He sits beneath the kitchen stair;Regardless as to life and limb,A shady lair he chooses there;And if you tumble over him,He simply loves to hear you swear.And, while bad language you prefer,He'll sit and purr, and purr, and purr!
Words in this poem
- lair n.
- A place in which to lie or rest; especially, the bed or couch of a wild beast. [OE. leir, AS. leger; akin to D. leger, G. lager couch, lair, OHG. laga, Goth. ligrs, and to E. lie. See Lie to be prostrate, and cf. Layer, Leaguer.]
- purr v. i.
- To murmur as a cat. See Pur.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Cat is in the public domain. This text is taken from Verse and Worse, Project Gutenberg ebook #36702; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Harry Graham, The Cat, in Verse and Worse (1905), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #36702, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/graham-verse-and-worse/the-cat.html, id L23333.
Form and metre
The Cat is 16 lines in 2 stanzas of 8 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABABABCC, the Ottava rima. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 96%).
See other poems in ottava rima, other poems in iambic tetrameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 ABABABCC imitateA · catB · plateA · fatB · lateA · thatB · boshC · washC
- 2 ABABABCC dimA · stairB · limbA · thereB · himA · swearB · preferC · purrC
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| My children, you should imitate | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| The harmless, necessary cat, | 8 | ·/˘/˘·˘· |
| Who eats whatever's on his plate, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And doesn't even leave the fat; | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Who never stays in bed too late, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Or does immoral things like that; | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| Instead of saying, 'Shan't!' or 'Bosh!' | 8 | ˘/·/˘··· |
| He'll sit and wash, and wash, and wash! | 8 | ········ |
| When shadows fall and lights grow dim, | 8 | ·/······ |
| He sits beneath the kitchen stair; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Regardless as to life and limb, | 8 | ˘/˘····· |
| A shady lair he chooses there; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And if you tumble over him, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| He simply loves to hear you swear. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And, while bad language you prefer, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| He'll sit and purr, and purr, and purr! | 8 | ········ |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.