i can't tell you this is a good cat poem

This is "A Pet Kitten" from The Miscellaneous Poems of Mrs. Hannah Eayrs Barron (Nashua, NH: Barker & Bean, 1884), and top-notch 19th-c schlock it is.  I had tears in my eyes after reading this...tears of laughter.  (Edit, November 2012:  Upon getting the time to read a little more of the slim volume, I must say there actually are some truly pleasant verses in there that would do well in any anthology.  I recommend "The Farmer's Welcome" for its sincerity and joy.)

* * *

Now my pretty little kitty,

She is dead and gone for aye;

And it seems so sad a pity,

That I cannot see her play.

I had thought if she kept growing.

She would soon he a big cat; 

And that she would be so knowing.

She would catch the mice and rats.

She was treated just as kindly,

As a petted child could be;

And perhaps was just as blindly

Killed with kindness, that may be.

Now she is not any better

Than a once loved worn out hat; 

Or a cherished old love letter,

Or some other lost pet cat.

* * *

I should have seen this coming from a poet whose slim volume also offers such delights as "A Cross Made of Hair," "A Crow Caught in a Trap," "My Old House is Going to Decay," "I Do Not Fear to Die," and "It is First-Rate to Be a Yankee."  There's actually a couple more kitty-themed jewels in here, but I'm going to save those for another day's treat.