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Ode on the death of a favorite cat
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7.8
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(5
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Twas on a lofty vase's side,
Where China's gayest art had dyed
The azure flowers that blow;
Demurest of the tabby kind,
The pensive Selima, reclined,
Gazed on the lake below.
Her conscious tail her joy declared;
The fair round face, the snowy beard,
The velvet of her paws,
Her coat, that with the tortoise vies,
Her ears of jet, and emerald eyes,
She saw; and purred applause.
Still had she gazed; but 'midst the tide
Two angel forms were seen to glide,
The genii of the stream:
Their scaly armor's Tyrian hue
Through richest purple to the view
Betrayed a golden gleam.
The hapless nymph with wonder saw:
A whisker first and then a claw,
With many an ardent wish,
She stretched in vain to reach the prize.
What female heart can gold despise?
What cat's averse to fish?
Presumptuous maid! with looks intent
Again she stretched, again she bent,
Nor knew the gulf between.
(Malignant Fate sat by and smiled)
The slippery verge her feet beguiled,
She tumbled headlong in.
Eight times emerging from the flood
She mewed to every watery god,
Some speedy aid to send.
No dolphin came, no Nereid stirred;
Nor cruel Tom, nor Susan heard;
A favorite has no friend!
From hence, ye beauties, undeceived,
Know, one false step is ne'er retrieved,
And be with caution bold.
Not all that tempts your wandering eyes
And heedless hearts, is lawful prize;
Nor all that glisters, gold.
Thomas Gray
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Read poems about / on: cat, fish, purple, angel, fate, friend, joy, ode, death, god, fishing, flower, smile
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Comments about this poem (Ode on the death of a favorite cat
by
Thomas Gray
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Thomas Gray
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Jack Peachum
(8/23/2009 10:42:00 AM) |
Dear Reader,
This is a wonderful poem! The trick here is to relax & enjoy-don't analyze- let the poem be the poem and please you!
As for meaning, it means just what it says: a beautiful and much-treasured family cat was sleeping beside a large garden vase, admiring itself in the goldfish pond. Then it noticed the fish themselves and leaned too far out- drowning.
There's a message there too: if you reach too far and for too much you will fail of it. Unbidden desire may drown you. 'All that glitters is not gold.'
The poem- forget all that: if you look for too much meaning you will lose the irony and the pathos of this wonderful verse! Again- enjoy!
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Hope Dyer
(6/9/2005 7:28:00 PM) |
Help, please! If you can analyse this bloody poem you are very talented. Please email me if you can. hoped@ggscorio.vic.edu.au
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