The Internet is full of blogs and Reddits and substacks and vlogs and IG feeds of people with their cats, and cats with their people. All sorts of cats, funny cats, single-brain-cell ginger cats, adopted cats, cat fangs and claws (“teefs” and “murder mittens”), etc. You name it, there’s a bunch of pictures about it, and even a special cutesy language that people use. Bored? Just type “cats” into search anywhere and woah, mama! Cats!! OK, I get it, I’m a cat person myself. I have only ever had two cats, or they had me, to be precise: George, a blue-eyed, white, three-legged wonder, and Zorro, a pitch-black stray who just came to my place to eat and otherwise ignored me.

Cats though, unlike dogs, have a certain poetic quality about them; the way they move, slinkily, the way their fur shines, their night-time wandering, their aloofness, their twitching tails, their gorgeous eyes. People have since forever written about them, sung their praises, and even worshiped them. For instance, Bastet was an Ancient Egyptian goddess who took the form of a lioness and later a cat.

I like poems about cats

Every time I read a story or a poem about a cat, I tend to rather like it. Because…cats. You know? Below are extracts from some of my favourites. But my most favourite one, at this moment, is The Cat and the Moon, by William Butler Yeats, which was written in 1919. That’s more than 100 years ago, but his description of a black cat slinking about outside by the light of the full moon, is still just perfect. Times change, cats don’t.

I discovered it a few months ago, thanks to fellow blogger, Fran, (much appreciated, Fran!) and when I read it, it struck me that not only did Yeats use half-rhymes, but that the irregularity of his rhyme scheme would make for an interesting song. So, I wrote one!

The Cat and the Moon

I call it “Minnaloushe and the Moon”, and in order to set it to music, I had to adapt Yeats’ verses, of course, but mostly by building out the section that I chose as the Bridge. That’s the danceable part.

The words that gave the most trouble when I was trying to comp the lyrics, were, “would” and “blood”, seeing as they are pronounced actually quite differently, with “would” being a stretched out vowel over two or more beats, and “blood” being shorter and just one beat. The same problem occurred with “place” (short) and “phase” (long). To accommodate the fact that the 4th verse has five lines, not 4, and therefore does not fit the 4/4 time typically used in modern songs, I had to expand it into 2 verses of 4 lines each.

But, here is the music video of the song. It has not gone to the studio for mixing yet, so it not perfect. It was more difficult than I had anticipated, but I’m a mighty stubborn creature (like a cat) – when I set out to do something, I stick to it until it’s done.

Video – “Minnaloushe and the Moon”

(Credits and copyright in the video titles. Dawn Lief is the featured lead vocalist.)

THE CAT AND THE MOON -W. B. Yeats (1865-1939)

MINNALOUSHE AND THE MOON – Marthe Bijman /Cōdae

HE cat went here and there And the moon spun round like a top, And the nearest kin of the moon, The creeping cat, looked up. Black Minnaloushe stared at the moon, For, wander and wail as he would, The pure cold light in the sky Troubled his animal blood. Minnaloushe runs in the grass Lifting his delicate feet. Do you dance, Minnaloushe, do you dance? When two close kindred meet, What better than call a dance? Maybe the moon may learn, Tired of that courtly fashion, A new dance turn. Minnaloushe creeps through the grass From moonlit place to place, The sacred moon overhead Has taken a new phase. Does Minnaloushe know that his pupils Will pass from change to change, And that from round to crescent, From crescent to round they range? Minnaloushe creeps through the grass Alone, important and wise, And lifts to the changing moon His changing eyes.

VERSE Oh, The cat went here and there And the moon spun round like a top, And the nearest kin of the moon, The creeping cat, looked up. Black Minnaloushe stared at the moon, For, wander and wail as he would, The pure cold light in the sky Troubled his animal blood. CHORUS Minnaloushe runs in the grass Lifting his delicate feet. Do you dance, Minnaloushe, do you dance? BRIDGE When two close kindred meet, What better than call a dance? Maybe the moon may learn, Tired of that courtly fashion, A new dance a new dance turn Maybe the moon may learn, Maybe the moon may learn, a new dance turn, a new dance turn. CHORUS Minnaloushe creeps through the grass From moonlit place to place, The sacred moon overhead Has taken a new phase. VERSE Does Minnaloushe know that his pupils Will pass from change to change, And that from round to crescent, From crescent to round they range? Minnaloushe creeps through the grass Alone, important and wise, And lifts to the changing moon His changing eyes. CHORUS Minnaloushe runs in the grass Minnaloushe, do you dance?

More cat poems – yay!

I didn’t actually know what Margaret Atwood also writes poems. Is that not just typical of a cat? Tries to sit on her head and purrs like a washboard. I can almost hear it.

And then they got married and danced by the light of the silvery moon. Unforgettable!

Well, a tiger is a cat too. I can actually recite these verses. What wonderful imagery.

Indeed. That’s cats for you. Don’t you love “…a tail that stands like a pine tree cone”?

I hope you like these poems about cats. Long live the kitties, I say!

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