Complete Poems and Plays

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Complete Poems and Plays Page 19

by T. S. Eliot


  He’s the Cat we all greet as he walks down the street

  In his coat of fastidious black:

  No commonplace mousers have such well-cut trousers

  Or such an impeccable back.

  In the whole of St. James’s the smartest of names is

  The name of this Brummell of Cats;

  And we’re all of us proud to be nodded or bowed to

  By Bustopher Jones in white spats!

  His visits are occasional to the Senior Educational

  And it is against the rules

  For any one Cat to belong both to that

  And the Joint Superior Schools.

  For a similar reason, when game is in season

  He is found, not at Fox’s, but Blimp’s;

  But he’s frequently seen at the gay Stage and Screen

  Which is famous for winkles and shrimps.

  In the season of venison he gives his ben’son

  To the Pothunter’s succulent bones;

  And just before noon’s not a moment too soon

  To drop in for a drink at the Drones.

  When he’s seen in a hurry there’s probably curry

  At the Siamese — or at the Glutton;

  If he looks full of gloom then he’s lunched at the Tomb

  On cabbage, rice pudding and mutton.

  So, much in this way, passes Bustopher’s day —

  At one club or another he’s found.

  It can be no surprise that under our eyes

  He has grown unmistakably round.

  He’s a twenty-five pounder, or I am a bounder,

  And he’s putting on weight every day:

  But he’s so well preserved because he’s observed

  All his life a routine, so he’d say.

  Or, to put it in rhyme: ‘I shall last out my time’

  Is the word for this stoutest of Cats.

  It must and it shall be Spring in Pall Mall

  While Bustopher Jones wears white spats!

  Skimbleshanks: the Railway Cat

  There’s a whisper down the line at 11.39

  When the Night Mail’s ready to depart,

  Saying ‘Skimble where is Skimble has he gone to hunt the thimble?

  We must find him or the train can’t start.’

  All the guards and all the porters and the stationmaster’s daughters

  They are searching high and low,

  Saying ‘Skimble where is Skimble for unless he’s very nimble

  Then the Night Mail just can’t go.’

  At 11.42 then the signal’s overdue

  And the passengers are frantic to a man —

  Then Skimble will appear and he’ll saunter to the rear:

  He’s been busy in the luggage van!

  He gives one flash of his glass-green eyes

  And the signal goes ‘All Clear!’

  And we’re off at last for the northern part

  Of the Northern Hemisphere!

  You may say that by and large it is Skimble who’s in charge

  Of the Sleeping Car Express.

  From the driver and the guards to the bagmen playing cards

  He will supervise them all, more or less.

  Down the corridor he paces and examines all the faces

  Of the travellers in the First and in the Third;

  He establishes control by a regular patrol

  And he’d know at once if anything occurred.

  He will watch you without winking and he sees what you are thinking

  And it’s certain that he doesn’t approve

  Of hilarity and riot, so the folk are very quiet

  When Skimble is about and on the move.

  You can play no pranks with Skimbleshanks!

  He’s a Cat that cannot be ignored;

  So nothing goes wrong on the Northern Mail

  When Skimbleshanks is aboard.

  Oh it’s very pleasant when you have found your little den

  With your name written up on the door.

  And the berth is very neat with a newly folded sheet

  And there’s not a speck of dust on the floor.

  There is every sort of light — you can make it dark or bright;

  There’s a button that you turn to make a breeze.

  There’s a funny little basin you’re supposed to wash your face in

  And a crank to shut the window if you sneeze.

  Then the guard looks in politely and will ask you very brightly

  ‘Do you like your morning tea weak or strong?’

  But Skimble’s just behind him and was ready to remind him.

  For Skimble won’t let anything go wrong.

  And when you creep into your cosy berth

  And pull up the counterpane,

  You ought to reflect that it’s very nice

  To know that you won’t be bothered by mice —

  You can leave all that to the Railway Cat,

  The Cat of the Railway Train!

  In the watches of the night he is always fresh and bright;

  Every now and then he has a cup of tea

  With perhaps a drop of Scotch while he’s keeping on the watch,

  Only stopping here and there to catch a flea.

  You were fast asleep at Crewe and so you never knew

  That he was walking up and down the station;

  You were sleeping all the while he was busy at Carlisle,

  Where he greets the stationmaster with elation.

  But you saw him at Dumfries, where he summons the police

  If there’s anything they ought to know about:

  When you get to Gallowgate there you do not have to wait —

  For Skimbleshanks will help you to get out!

  He gives you a wave of his long brown tail

  Which says: ‘I’ll see you again!

  You’ll meet without fail on the Midnight Mail

  The Cat of the Railway Train.’

  The Ad-dressing of Cats

  You’ve read of several kinds of Cat,

  And my opinion now is that

  You should need no interpreter

  To understand their character.

  You now have learned enough to see

  That Cats are much like you and me

  And other people whom we find

  Possessed of various types of mind.

  For some are sane and some are mad

  And some are good and some are bad

  And some are better, some are worse —

  But all may be described in verse.

  You’ve seen them both at work and games,

  And learnt about their proper names,

  Their habits and their habitat:

  But

  How would you ad-dress a Cat?

  So first, your memory I’ll jog,

  And say: A CAT IS NOT A DOG.

  Now Dogs pretend they like to fight;

  They often bark, more seldom bite;

  But yet a Dog is, on the whole,

  What you would call a simple soul.

  Of course I’m not including Pekes,

  And such fantastic canine freaks.

  The usual Dog about the Town

  Is much inclined to play the clown,

  And far from showing too much pride

  Is frequently undignified.

  He’s very easily taken in —

  Just chuck him underneath the chin

  Or slap his back or shake his paw,

  And he will gambol and guffaw.

  He’s such an easy-going lout,

  He’ll answer any hail or shout.

  Again I must remind you that

  A Dog’s a Dog — A CAT’S A CAT.

  With Cats, some say, one rule is true:

  Don’t speak till you are spoken to.

  Myself, I do not hold with that —

  I say, you should ad-dress a Cat.

  But always keep in mind that he

  Resents familiarity.

  I bow
, and taking off my hat,

  Ad-dress him in this form: O CAT!

  But if he is the Cat next door,

  Whom I have often met before

  (He comes to see me in my flat)

  I greet him with an OOPSA CAT!

  I think I’ve heard them call him James —

  But we’ve not got so far as names.

  Before a Cat will condescend

  To treat you as a trusted friend,

  Some little token of esteem

  Is needed, like a dish of cream;

  And you might now and then supply

  Some caviare, or Strassburg Pie,

  Some potted grouse, or salmon paste —

  He’s sure to have his personal taste.

  (I know a Cat, who makes a habit

  Of eating nothing else but rabbit,

  And when he’s finished, licks his paws

  So’s not to waste the onion sauce.)

  A Cat’s entitled to expect

  These evidences of respect.

  And so in time you reach your aim,

  And finally call him by his NAME.

  So this is this, and that is that:

  And there’s how you AD-DRESS A CAT.

  Cat Morgan Introduces Himself

  I once was a Pirate what sailed the ’igh seas —

  But now I’ve retired as a com-mission-aire:

  And that’s how you find me a-takin’ my ease

  And keepin’ the door in a Bloomsbury Square.

  I’m partial to partridges, likewise to grouse,

  And I favour that Devonshire cream in a bowl;

  But I’m allus content with a drink on the ’ouse

  And a bit o’ cold fish when I done me patrol.

  I ain’t got much polish, me manners is gruff,

  But I’ve got a good coat, and I keep meself smart;

  And everyone says, and I guess that’s enough;

  ‘You can’t but like Morgan, ’e’s got a good ’art.’

  I got knocked about on the Barbary Coast,

  And me voice it ain’t no sich melliferous horgan;

  But yet I can state, and I’m not one to boast,

  That some of the gals is dead keen on old Morgan.

  So if you ’ave business with Faber — or Faber —

  I’ll give you this tip, and it’s worth a lot more:

  You’ll save yourself time, and you’ll spare yourself labour

  If jist you make friends with the Cat at the door.

  MORGAN.

  PLAYS

  MURDER IN THE CATHEDRAL

  This play is fully protected by copyright

  and no performance can be given without

  a licence from the Author’s agents

  THE LEAGUE OF DRAMATISTS

  84 DRAYTON GARDENS, LONDON, S.W.10

  from whose Secretary all information

  about fees or royalties can be obtained.

  Characters

  PART I

  A CHORUS OF WOMEN OF CANTERBURY

  THREE PRIESTS OF THE CATHEDRAL

  A MESSENGER

  ARCHBISHOP THOMAS BECKET

  FOUR TEMPTERS

  ATTENDANTS

  The scene is the Archbishop’s Hall,

  on December 2nd, 1170

  PART II

  THREE PRIESTS

  FOUR KNIGHTS

  ARCHBISHOP THOMAS BECKET

  CHORUS OF WOMEN OF CANTERBURY

  ATTENDANTS

  The first scene is in the Archbishop’s Hall,

  the second scene is in the Cathedral,

  on December 29th, 1170

  Part I

  CHORUS. Here let us stand, close by the cathedral. Here let us wait.

  Are we drawn by danger? Is it the knowledge of safety, that draws

  our feet

  Towards the cathedral? What danger can be

  For us, the poor, the poor women of Canterbury? what tribulation

  With which we are not already familiar? There is no danger

  For us, and there is no safety in the cathedral. Some presage of an

  act

  Which our eyes are compelled to witness, has forced our feet

  Towards the cathedral. We are forced to bear witness.

  Since golden October declined into sombre November

  And the apples were gathered and stored, and the land became

  brown sharp points of death in a waste of water and mud,

  The New Year waits, breathes, waits, whispers in darkness.

  While the labourer kicks off a muddy boot and stretches his hand

  to the fire,

  The New Year waits, destiny waits for the coming.

  Who has stretched out his hand to the fire and remembered the

  Saints at All Hallows,

  Remembered the martyrs and saints who wait? and who shall

  Stretch out his hand to the fire, and deny his master? who shall be

  warm

  By the fire, and deny his master?

  Seven years and the summer is over

  Seven years since the Archbishop left us,

  He who was always kind to his people.

  But it would not be well if he should return.

  King rules or barons rule;

  We have suffered various oppression,

  But mostly we are left to our own devices,

  And we are content if we are left alone.

  We try to keep our households in order;

  The merchant, shy and cautious, tries to compile a little fortune,

  And the labourer bends to his piece of earth, earth-colour, his own

  colour,

  Preferring to pass unobserved.

  Now I fear disturbance of the quiet seasons:

  Winter shall come bringing death from the sea,

  Ruinous spring shall beat at our doors,

  Root and shoot shall eat our eyes and our ears,

  Disastrous summer burn up the beds of our streams

  And the poor shall wait for another decaying October.

  Why should the summer bring consolation

  For autumn fires and winter fogs?

  What shall we do in the heat of summer

  But wait in barren orchards for another October?

  Some malady is coming upon us. We wait, we wait,

  And the saints and martyrs wait, for those who shall be martyrs and

  saints.

  Destiny waits in the hand of God, shaping the still unshapen:

  I have seen these things in a shaft of sunlight.

  Destiny waits in the hand of God, not in the hands of statesmen

 

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