Thursday, April 17, 2008

The Naming of Cats

This is one of Mommy's most favorite poems. It's part of the collection "Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats" by T.S. Elliot. This is for Fagin and all the Purrageous Family!

THE NAMING OF CATS
The Naming of Cats is a difficult matter,
      It isn't just one of your holiday games;
You may thing at first I'm as mad as a hatter
When I tell you, a cat must have THREE DIFFERENT NAMES.
First of all, there's the name that the family use daily,
      Such as Peter, Augustus, Alonzo or James
Such as Victor or Jonathan, George or Bill Bailey—
      All of them sensible everyday names.
There are fancier names if you think they sound sweeter,
      Some for the gentlemen, some for the dames:
Such as Plato, Admetus, Electra, Demeter—
      But all of them sensible everyday names.
But I tell you, a cat needs a name that's particular,
      A name that's peculiar, and more dignified,
Else how can he keep his tail perpendicular,
      Or spread out his whiskers, or cherish his pride?
Of names of this kind, I can give you a quorum,
      Such as Munkustrap, Quaxo, or Coricopat,
Such as Bombalurina, or else Jellylorum—
      Names that never belong to more than one cat.
But above and beyond there;s still one name left over,
      And that is the name that you never will guess;
The name that no human research can discover—
      But THE CAT HIMSELF KNOWS, and will never confess.
When you notice a cat in profound meditation,
      The reason, I tell you, is always the same:
His mind is engaged in a rapt contemplation
      Of the thought, of the thought, of the thought of his name:
          His ineffable effable
          Effanineffable
Deep and inscrutable singular Name.


We hope that the Purrageous Mom is feeling more hopeful and is going to get back to blogging as soon as she is ready!

- Pearl, Bert and Jake

23 comments:

Karen Jo said...

I am very fond of that poem. I am very glad that Fagin has found his forever home with such a loving family.

KC and the Giggleman Kitties said...

Wonderful post.
Love the poem, too, one of my favorites.
And I hope Fagin remains Fagin, forever.

Dragonheart, Merlin, Devi, and Chloe said...

That's a terrific poem. :) Our mom really enjoys all of "Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats." :)

Parker said...

That's a great poem!

Goldie, Shade and Banshee said...

That was great! We have never read that before! So true!

ANGEL ABBYGRACE said...

Bravo PJ & B!
We thought that was a great post and we hope that all the Purreagous Pirates are back blogging today and feeling better. I think that the blogosphere showed how deeply it cares for all of those little pirates.

Purrs
Abby and Miss Boo

The Taylor CatSSSSS said...

Oh, what a purrrfect post!

We found out that Fagin means"

"Little ardent one"......

thank you for this posting

Mickey's Musings said...

Good post!!
Too bad beans attach so much to
words(any word or name)
I like Fagin and hope he stays Fagin too!!!!
Purrs Mickey

The Furry Kids said...

Great post! We never saw that poem before. We sure hope that Capt Jack's, Dante's, & Fagin's mom feels better about things soon.

Love and whiskie kissies to Bert,
Tazo

Zippy, Sadie, Speedy and M'Gee said...

Perfect post, we too hope the pirates don't stop blogging and that Fagin stays Fagin forever!

Tybalt said...

Mommy loves that book and has it.
Somewhere.
Thanks for sharing such a great poem with us all!
Fagin is going to stay Fagin, and I'm sure the Pirates will be back to blogging soon. Yay!

Samantha & Mom said...

Wonderful Poem, PB&J! And so true!! We hope the Pirate Kitties get back to blogging soon! We need our Pirate Fix! My mom says her granny always told her, if you can't say something nice, don't say anything! Truer words were never spoke.
Your FL furiends,

Unknown said...

Love the poem. I hope Captain Jack, Dante and Fagin's Mum and Dad are feeling better today too. It would be a shame if one person's ignorant comment would deny us of knowing Jack, Dante and Fagin through their blog.

Victor Tabbycat said...

Oh, good. I has a sensible, efurryday name. An I *like* Fagin as LK's name.

The Misadventures Of Me said...

We hope so too!

Anonymous said...

Great post! We couldn't agree more!

Daisy said...

What a perfect post for today! I love the Pirate kitties and am sad that they are upset about that mean comment.

Bobby D. said...

Nice poem, very nice.

Anonymous said...

that's really sweet of you. great poem!

Tesla and Hansel said...

Nice poem

Sassy Kat said...

I really like that poem. And I so like the name Fagin that his mom and dad picked out for him. From what the mom said it suited him just fine.

Liss said...

Thanks for visiting my blog and leaving your comments. I just love the PB&J intials too clever.

Love,
Liss
http://pursnsnorts.blogspot.com

Mark's Mews (Marley, Lori, Loki, and Binq) said...

The only cat that ever arrived here with a name in the mind of The Big Thing is Ayla. He had that one determenined fer years.

Well, Tinkerbelle arrived with a name she already had from his sisfur...

But all the others (us included) got names after he gave it some very SERIOUS thought. Names are very important matters!