more herford kitten verse

Remember Oliver Herford, whose Rubaiyyat of a Persian Kitten gave me such comfort in October? I didn't know he had also written The Kitten's Garden of Verses in 1911. Mm! Let's have a taste, shall we?

The Puncture

When I was just a Kitten small,

They gave to me a Rubber Ball

To roll upon the floor.

One day I tapped it with my paw

And pierced the rubber with my claw;

Now it will roll no more.

The Joy Ride

When Mistress Peggy moves around,

Her dresses make a mocking sound.

"You can't catch me!" they seem to say--

I often steal a ride that way.

And this one is for Elizabeth, who flies through the air with the greatest of ease.

The Game

Watching a ball on the end of a string,

Watching it swing back and to,

Oh, I do think it the pleasantest thing

Ever a Kitten can do.

First it goes this way, then it goes that,

Just like a bird on the wing.

And all of a tremble I crouch on the mat

Like a Lion, preparing to spring.

And now with a terrible deafening mew,

Like a Tiger I leap on my prey,

And just when I think I have torn it in two

It is up in the air and away.