Students:
Below is a poem by T.S. Eliot
(Kayla, I thought of you while selecting this.)
Please, read the poem and comment on two aspects:
1. What characteristics do actual cats have that might have led the speaker to suggest, humorously, each of the three kinds of names?
2. Evaluate T.S.Eliot's personal feelings toward cats.
The Naming of Cats
The Naming of Cats is a difficult matter,
It isn't just one of your holiday games;
You may think 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 up 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.
5 comments:
1.- The characteristics T.S. Eliot probably thought of are cats belonging to humans, cats keeping their dignity despite belonging to humans, and their having a sense of mystery, as if they know something the people don't. The first name, or the name that us humans give cats, represents the quality of a cat being just a cat to us humans. The second name given to them is for the dignity cats have, and the feeling that they give off that they feel above everyone and everything else. The third name is the sense of mystery (or some might say haughtiness) that cats give off. They just sit there and stare off into space, or gaze at you like they're speculating on what you really are.
2.- Eliot seems like he has noticed, as any cat owner already has, the normal behavior of cats, and their dignified, "greater than thou" behavior, which he shows in this poem by saying that they need, not just one name, but three. He probably sees that in cats, but is also amused by it, which is why he wrote this poem.
Cats are quite common as a household pet, which is probably the basis for their "sensible everyday names".
Even though I consider cats to be little more than scheming, thieving vermin, I do suppose they have a certain amount of, shall we say, pride and dignity in the way they comport themselves and maintain their hygiene (cleanliness is next to godliness). Hence the "name that's peculiar, and more dignified".
Going back to scheming and shrewd, there is an element of mystery to the workings of a cat's mind, an element of secrecy, and of superstition. I guess it seems only appropriate that there would be something about cats that only they would be privy to, even if it be something so mundane as a name.
I have the impression that T.S. Eliot likes cats and respects them, but mostly views them in a secretive, sophisticated, dignified way, that maybe he thinks that cats know more than they let on. I couldn't say for sure if he owns one as a pet, but I can say with some certainty that he doesn't think of them as scheming, thieving vermin.
For the first and regular name: it is their normal name in which they are part of the family and that is it. For their second unique name: it is different cats’ quirky aspects in which seem ridiculously funny and that no other cat you know does. Cats also have a snooty air about them that makes them seem as if they need their own individualistic name that makes them special. The third would then be that secret name only the cat would understand. If you have ever had a cat you would understand what I mean when I say; there are times where a cat were a cat is doing something in which it looks like they are working or thinking on something only they understand. Where they are staring off into the distance and we, as humans, shall never know what’s running through their mind.
It could be taken that T.S Eliot’s feelings towards cats is cats are immensely diverse and complex beings. Not only is each cat unique from each other, but that each cat has a layered and multi dimensional personality.
1) The "sensible, everyday name[s]" refers to a cat being a common household feline friend; but yes cats are considered prideful (I mean why else it it called a pride of lion right?), which constitues for the second "peculiar, and more dignified name." Plus, every cat is unique (like every person is unique-peculiar yes?) The third name, I understood it as, well cats spend way too much time doing nothing at all. Actually cats spent about 20 hours of the day sleeping (www.ask.com), yeah they are so meditating. Right.
2) I think Eliot was just observing cats and their unique personalities in this poem and wanted to remark on their behaviors in an amusing way. Whether he has any affinity or dislike for cats is dependant on the reader of the poem. Personally, I don't think he has any particular feelings about cats, but if I have to choose, I'd have to say he does like them. Some what. I guess.
1)Probably cats dignified manner. How they keep it even though they belong to and get taken care of by humans. Their first name is the name that humans know by them. The second one is the name that humans recognize the dignity of cats by. And the third name is the name that other cats and the cat himself by. This third name is the name that humans will never know about.
2)Eliot has pickd up on the kind of 'double life' that cats lead. The ones that humans see everyday, and then the mysterious one that only cats know about.
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