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| thanks felineaddiction.com |
Remember how amused - and bemused - I always am by 19th-century moralizing poetry? Here's another morsel that escalates quickly. . .
A LITTLE BOY AND HIS CAT.
Once Freddy was heard very gravely to say
To his favourite Cat, who went to him to play,
Once Freddy was heard very gravely to say
To his favourite Cat, who went to him to play,
"They tell me, dear Pussy, you're cruel to mice;
That you catch them and eat them all up in a trice;
But surely, my Pussy, that cannot be true;
Indeed, if I thought so, I could not love you.
Only think now, dear Puss, should old Growler come in
And bite off your head, tear your pretty soft skin,
What pain you would suffer, and how I should grieve,
I should always hate Growler, I really believe;
So I beg, my dear Cat, whilst with me you remain,
If so cruel you've been, you'll not do it again."
That you catch them and eat them all up in a trice;
But surely, my Pussy, that cannot be true;
Indeed, if I thought so, I could not love you.
Only think now, dear Puss, should old Growler come in
And bite off your head, tear your pretty soft skin,
What pain you would suffer, and how I should grieve,
I should always hate Growler, I really believe;
So I beg, my dear Cat, whilst with me you remain,
If so cruel you've been, you'll not do it again."
From Cato; or, T. adventures of a dog., by A Lady.
(1825). Easy rhymes for children from five to ten years of age: with eight
engravings. London: John Harris, St. Paul's Church-Yard. 2-3.
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