take the rat taste out

cat and mouse in partnership, walter crane. (PD)

THE BRINDLE CAT
"Me-ow! me-ow!" the brindle cat
Is calling at the door,
"I've had enough," she says, "of rat,
And now want something more;
A little milk, if it's about,
To take the rat taste out."
The brindle cat says naught but "me-ow" —
The only word she knows —
A word that seems to tell somehow
All her delights and woes.
(All words are empty sounds unless
Some feeling gives them stress.)
The brindle cat is cousin to
The screechowl, I believe.
Sometimes she cries the whole night through
And dodges all we heave,
And this one word makes all the row —
Me-ow! me-ow! me-ow!
But when she's lying on the rug
Contented as can be,
She sleeps and snores without a drug
Or any soothing tea.
And if one gently strokes her now
She'll softly answer, "me-ow."

-- From Secor, E. (1911). Verse for little folks and others. Des Moines, Ia.: Successful Farming. 33.