The Dead Cat. (Patchie: In Memoriam) Poem by Martin Farquhar Tupper

Yet - Patchie still lives! - We can hope and believe it,-
The poor little cat to good Harry so dear:
It seems a wild fancy,- but those who receive it
More happily justify Providence here:
Dumb innocents, often too cruelly treated,
May well for their patience find future reward,
And the Great Judge in mercy and majesty seated
Claim all His creation, as bought by its Lord.

I will not accept it,- this annihilation
For anything made by The Maker of all;
I read that the whole of our groaning creation
Lives on, as redeemed, and in spite of man's fall;
I see that all matter is strangely persistent,
That Spirit is life, and not subject to death,
And judge that all creatures may live coexistent
With Him who hath granted them life in His breath!

Matter is changeable; Spirit unchanging;
Both never dying, if once ever born;
Each up the ladder of progress still ranging,
Perfecting natures by each of them worn:
And I consider, that this world of ours,
Nursery of seeds of the garden of Love,
Breeds not only Man - but animals, flowers,
Yea, all things below, for the Kingdom above!

It is not unwisdom to hold with the savage
That brutes (as we name them for dumbness) have souls,
For though - as with us - death's fury may ravage
Their bodies,- their spirits it never controls;
So, this may be truth, that dear Harry in Heaven
May welcome his favourite gladly again,
Since glory to man through redemption is given,
And merciful God hath made nothing in vain!

I wot not, if only through representation,
Or singly with each (for God's realms are not scant),
But verily all things, once blest with creation,
Though born into time, for Eternity pant:
From man to the monad, the lichen, the crystal,
Link slipt into link, the great chain as a whole,
Each touching each, they together consist all,
The universe thrilling to God with one soul!