Oliver Herford

“ I sometimes think the Pussy-Willows grey
Are Angel Kittens who have lost their way,
And every Bulrush on the river bank
A Cat-Tail from some lovely Cat astray. ”

“ The Cat-Nip. Tho’ ’tis good in time of need,
Ah, feed upon it lightly, for who knows
To what unlovely antics it may lead.
Strange—is it not?—that of the numbers who
Before me passed this Door of Darkness thro’,
Not one returns thro’ it again, altho’
Ofttimes I’ve waited here an hour or two.
’Tis but a Tent where takes his one Night’s Rest
A Rodent to the Realms of Death address’d,
When Cook, arising, looks for him and then—
Baits, and prepares it for another Guest.
They say the Lion and the Lizard keep
The Courts where Jamshýd gloried and drank deep.
The Lion is my cousin ”