 | Quo Musa Tendis? |  |
58
Elegy on de Marsay.
Come cats and kittens everywhere,
Whate'er of cat the world contains,
From Tabby on the kitchen stair
To Tiger burning in his lair
Unite your melancholy strains;
Whate'er of cat the world contains,
From Tabby on the kitchen stair
To Tiger burning in his lair
Unite your melancholy strains;
Weep, likewise, kindred dogs, and weep
Domestic fowls, and pigs, and goats;
Weep horses, oxen, poultry, sheep,
Weep finny monsters of the deep,
Weep foxes, weasels, badgers, stoats.
Domestic fowls, and pigs, and goats;
Weep horses, oxen, poultry, sheep,
Weep finny monsters of the deep,
Weep foxes, weasels, badgers, stoats.
Weep more than all, exalted man
And hardly less exalted maid;
Out-weep creation if you can
Which never yet, since time began,
Such creditable grief displayed.
And hardly less exalted maid;
Out-weep creation if you can
Which never yet, since time began,
Such creditable grief displayed.
It little profiteth that we
Go proudly up and down the land,
And drive our ships across the sea,
And babble of Eternity,
And hold the Universe in hand;
Go proudly up and down the land,
And drive our ships across the sea,
And babble of Eternity,
And hold the Universe in hand;
59
If, when our pride is at its height,
And glory sits upon our head,
A sudden mist can dim the light,
A voice be heard in pride's despite,
A voice which cries “de Marsay's dead.”
And glory sits upon our head,
A sudden mist can dim the light,
A voice be heard in pride's despite,
A voice which cries “de Marsay's dead.”
De Marsay dead! and never more
Shall I behold that silky form
Lie curled upon the conscious floor
With sinuous limbs and placid snore,
As one who sleeps through calm and storm?
Shall I behold that silky form
Lie curled upon the conscious floor
With sinuous limbs and placid snore,
As one who sleeps through calm and storm?
De Marsay dead! De Marsay dead!
And are you dead, de Marsay, you?
The sun is shining over head
With glory undiminishèd,
And you are dead; let me die too!
And are you dead, de Marsay, you?
The sun is shining over head
With glory undiminishèd,
And you are dead; let me die too!
Then birds, and beasts, and fishes come,
And people come, of all degrees;
Beat, sadly beat the funeral drum,
And let the gloomy organ hum
With dark mysterious melodies.
And people come, of all degrees;
Beat, sadly beat the funeral drum,
And let the gloomy organ hum
With dark mysterious melodies.
And (when we've adequately moaned),
For all the world to wonder at,
Let this great sentence be intoned:
No cat so sweet a mistress owned;
No mistress owned so sweet a cat.
For all the world to wonder at,
Let this great sentence be intoned:
No cat so sweet a mistress owned;
No mistress owned so sweet a cat.
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