Feline Friday: Jennyanydots and the Poetry of Cats

 
Here it is readers! The post you didn't know you've been wanting and you didn't ask for! Cats and poetry. Poetry and cats.  I need to talk about my Jenny a little bit. I feel like I've never really given her the proper treatment here.

I've discussed the trepidation we felt at bringing her in. 

 
  Neither of us considered ourselves "cat people," and both of us suffer from allergies. Not to mention Wiley is about as neurotic a dog as canine-ly possible.  I was just going to take her and her kittens right to the shelter, but those plans fell through, as explained here.

 Eventually, once the kittens began really venturing away from mom, and I saw a hawk circling overhead,  I decided I would just bring them in until the kittens were old enough to be separated from mom, and then I would try to find homes for all three.

During the two weeks I was feeding them outside I just called Jenny "Mama Cat." 

I knew giving her a name would be a bad idea. Once I brought her inside, I started trying out some names. I'm sure at this point a part of me knew I was going to be keeping her but I was still in denial. Now, I'm not going to tell you the other names I tried out. They're good names and I want to save them for any future cats, but don't tell Wiley.

One day when I came downstairs after having spent some time with her and the kittens in the guest room, Hubs said to me, "So, how many of them are we keeping?"  I guess that's when we knew the jig was up.

By then I had had plenty of time to observe Jenny, and none of the names I was considering fit her. All of them were related to literature or pop culture, yet none of them matched her personality. I started reviewing my favorite female characters once again, thinking maybe there was something I missed. This time I broke it down by authors. And that's when I remembered TS Eliot. He's among my favorite all-time poets, but all too often I'm mired down in his earlier work, steeped in hopelessness and disillusionment. I forgot that later in life he wanted to write something he could actually read with his grandchildren, and that's when he wrote this:

It was in this silly and wonderful book that I found "The Old Gumbie Cat," and that is when I knew Jenny finally had a name. Her full name is Jennyanydots. Check it out.

The Old Gumbie Cat
TS Eliot


I have a Gumbie Cat in mind, her name is Jennyanydots;
Her coat is of the tabby kind, with tiger stripes and leopard spots.

All day she sits upon the stair
 

 or on the steps

 or on the mat;

She sits and sits 

and sits and sits–

and that’s what makes a Gumbie Cat!

But when the day’s hustle and bustle is done,
Then the Gumbie Cat’s work is but hardly begun.
And when all the family’s in bed and asleep,
She tucks up her skirts to the basement to creep.
She is deeply concerned with the ways of the mice

Their behaviour’s not good and their manners not nice;
So when she has got them lined up on the matting,

She teaches them music, crocheting and tatting.

I have a Gumbie Cat in mind, her name is Jennyanydots;
Her equal would be hard to find, she likes the warm and sunny spots.
All day she sits beside the hearth or on the bed

or on my hat:

She sits and sits

 and sits and sits–

and that’s what makes a Gumbie Cat!

But when the day’s hustle and bustle is done,
Then the Gumbie Cat’s work is but hardly begun.

As she finds that the mice will not ever keep quiet,
She is sure it is due to irregular diet;

And believing that nothing is done without trying,
She sets right to work with her baking and frying.
She makes them a mouse–cake of bread and dried peas,
And a beautiful fry of lean bacon and cheese.

I have a Gumbie Cat in mind, her name is Jennyanydots;
The curtain-cord she likes to wind, and tie it into sailor-knots.

She sits upon the window-sill, or anything that’s smooth and flat:

She sits and sits 

and sits and sits–

and that’s what makes a Gumbie Cat!

But when the day’s hustle and bustle is done,
Then the Gumbie Cat’s work is but hardly begun.

She thinks that the cockroaches just need employment
To prevent them from idle and wanton destroyment.

So she’s formed, from that lot of disorderly louts,

A troop of well-disciplined helpful boy-scouts,
With a purpose in life and a good deed to do
And she’s even created a Beetles’ Tattoo.

So for Old Gumbie Cats let us now give three cheers
On whom well-ordered households depend, it appears.

Well, readers. . .  what do you think? She's definitely a "Jenny" amirite?  

Now, would you believe I have even more to say about cats and poetry? Well I do, and you'd better check in next Friday to see what I'm talking about. I'll have some other cats to share that people have sent me pictures of, and some surprises as well. I hope you enjoyed getting to know Jenny better. If you have a cat you'd like to share with the blog for Feline Friday, email me at pabibliophile@gmail.com.  Thanks!

Follow us on social media:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rescuedogblog  

Twitter: @RescueDogBlog

Instagram: @rescuedogblog