A whisker first and then a claw,
With
many an ardent wish,
She stretched in vain to reach the prize.
What female heart can gold despise?
What
cat’s averse to fish?’
(lines 19-24)
(lines 19-24)
Ode on the Death of a Favourite Cat: Drowned in a Tub of Goldfishes
Thomas Gray
1747
In some ways it’s a shocking title: a beloved pet has died in tragic circumstances. Yet, in typical eighteenth-century style, there is an element of satiric bathos. It is a poem about death, a tribute to a treasured feline companion; yet it is also an attempt to construct a funny side to an otherwise dismal situation. Certainly, it would seem to have been an attempt that succeeded: Horace Walpole, the owner of the unfortunate cat, had the first verse of the poem engraved onto a pedestal upon which he displayed the China vase in which his pet had met its end (apparently this is still on display in Walpole’s gothic mansion Strawberry Hill).
The artist and writer William Blake was
commissioned to produce an illustrated edition of Thomas Gray’s poetry; I’ve
included one of the illustrations here, because I think it helps to understand the
doubling of images in the poem. What
makes it funny is the way that the events are presented with such exaggerated
solemnity: the two goldfish are ‘genii of the stream’, while the tragic victim is
the ‘hapless nymph’. The serious aspect
of the final moral that ‘all that glisters [is not] gold’ also transforms the
incident into a useful life example. The
concept itself is by no means original: Shakespeare includes an almost
identical phrase in the play The Merchant
of Venice, and, long after Gray’s death, Tolkien incorporated a similar idea
into his description of the returning king, Aragorn, in The Lord of the Rings. Yet
the glorious juxtaposition of humour and solemnity that Gray achieves surely
makes this the most unique and stunning depiction of this proverb.Happy reading!
If you have any questions, feel free to ask in the comments section!
Picture: Illustration for Gray's 'Ode on the Death of a Favourite Cat,' William Blake, 1798. The Norton Anthology of English Literature: Volume C, The Restoration and the Eighteenth Century, edited by James Noggle and Lawrence Lipking, p. C.8. (It should be noted, that the original was much better quality than my low-resolution image)
You can
find this poem:
A lovely free version of the poem available
online! This site also has a wealth of information
surrounding Gray to suit all levels of interest and enthusiasm!
Another free version of the poem available online!
if
The Norton
Anthology of English Literature: Volume C, The Restoration and the Eighteenth
Century, edited by James Noggle and Lawrence Lipking, pp. 3050-3051
If, like me, you prefer a good solid book, this is
an excellent place to find the poem!
For more information
about Thomas Gray:
Wikipedia!! Always a good place to start…
http://www.thomasgray.org.uk/
A stunning resource!! Don’t be put off by all the talk about scholars and academics: this site is for anyone interested in Gray and his poetry!
