tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-153022829143323463.post2779229203701841554..comments2024-03-28T14:12:07.313+00:00Comments on A Writer's Life: Tuesday Poem: For I will consider my cat JeoffryKathleen Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07645566938871914385noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-153022829143323463.post-54947822134070321762012-05-03T09:30:34.655+01:002012-05-03T09:30:34.655+01:00Someone introduced me to this poem years ago when ...Someone introduced me to this poem years ago when I was at university. I didn't know about the pen name Mrs Mary Midnight though - a wonderful name, almost as good as Magdalene Moonlight (which I came across when studying Scottish birth register indexes)Catherinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08236329216260906624noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-153022829143323463.post-76638636901449783722012-05-02T22:38:36.338+01:002012-05-02T22:38:36.338+01:00Thanks for all your comments - yes, it is a curiou...Thanks for all your comments - yes, it is a curiously modern poem, isn't it? I was also puzzled by the word 'electricity', but it presumably existed before we applied it to the stuff that flows through the wires. Unfortunately I don't have my big dictionary here that tells me the origins of words. Elizabeth and Accidental Londoner - the kits are doing beautifully - quite fat and roly-poly by now! Hope they have their eyes open soon.<br />Apparently there's a new book out which includes Christopher Smart called 'Six Eighteenth Century Poets' by Neil Curry. Review here http://www.newwritingcumbria.org.uk/shut-it-wordsworth/ I hadn't seen it until someone sent it to me after seeing the blog. Sounds interesting - I'd like to know more about him.Kathleen Joneshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07645566938871914385noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-153022829143323463.post-51549335050940179392012-05-02T02:25:14.251+01:002012-05-02T02:25:14.251+01:00I love the poem, particularly as one who has lived...I love the poem, particularly as one who has lived long with the 'tribe of cat,' but the poet's tale was very sad.Helen Lowehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00509185824465377150noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-153022829143323463.post-29248876068215930312012-05-02T01:49:14.507+01:002012-05-02T01:49:14.507+01:00I agree with Andrew above. I was very surprised at...I agree with Andrew above. I was very surprised at the age of this poem. I like the clear bright gently amusing style. 'For he is an instrument for the children to learn benevolence upon.'...so true. <br />As for the extract from Boswell...it's delicious! Thanks Kathleen.Helen McKinlayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18429062682694815734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-153022829143323463.post-19501021084263073932012-05-02T00:59:32.267+01:002012-05-02T00:59:32.267+01:00A very modern poem. I was surprised to learn that ...A very modern poem. I was surprised to learn that the poet wrote this in the 1700s. "For by stroking of him I have found out electricity." Perhaps he was a prophet. I didn't even know that "electricity" was a word or concept before Edison and others got cracking with their inventions.Ben Hurhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08367615722744097913noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-153022829143323463.post-42337290062400914282012-05-01T19:22:11.331+01:002012-05-01T19:22:11.331+01:00Yeah! Love this poem.Yeah! Love this poem.lillyannehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12752638206153634574noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-153022829143323463.post-52195994802407649952012-05-01T19:09:33.031+01:002012-05-01T19:09:33.031+01:00Kathleen, I'm SO glad you posted this marvelou...Kathleen, I'm SO glad you posted this marvelous poem--too few people know it--or that it goes on for pages and he, like Jeoffry, never loses it footing as he describes this masterful and mystical animal. Thank you. It's a wonderful poem. But poor Smart suffered so afterwards. Cruel and unfair.Melissa Greenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03270919534011711225noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-153022829143323463.post-5338451607522468142012-05-01T15:49:12.911+01:002012-05-01T15:49:12.911+01:00Love the line 'For he is of the tribe of Tiger...Love the line 'For he is of the tribe of Tiger' - so apt. I don't know this poet, so thanks for the intro & poem, Kathleen! The pile of kits in the previous post is hilarious. They do find the most awkward ways/places to sleep, don't they?Elizabeth Welshhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15420253723750754324noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-153022829143323463.post-78648923613786310832012-05-01T15:26:24.850+01:002012-05-01T15:26:24.850+01:00Sone friends once had a cat named Jeoffry after th...Sone friends once had a cat named Jeoffry after this very poem! Hope the kittens are doing well...Accidental Londonerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03257232099217500179noreply@blogger.com