PUSS AT THE PALACE.
[The Daily Telegraph, in a report of the Cat Show at the Crystal Palace, remarks that "the cat has 'come back' as a hobby.">[
O all ye devoted cat-lovers,
Ere spending the cheques you have cashed,
Leave a trifle for tickets to enter the wickets
That ope on the Temple of Pasht.
For to-day in the Palace of Paxton
Cats gathered from every zone—
Manx, Persian, Sardinian, Chinese, Abyssinian—
Are now being splendidly shown.
The names of the winners and owners
Inspire me with joy and delight;
E.g., Blue-eyed Molly, John Bull (Madame Dolli)
And Snowflake, the champion white.
And then the adorable kittens!
Too high-bred to gambol or skip,
With names that are mighty, like Inglewood Clytie,
Or comic, like Holme Ruddy Pip.
It is pleasant to learn Mr. Shakespeare's
Success with his Siamese strain,
For his namesake the poet, so far as we know it,
Held "poor, harmless" puss in disdain.
Yes, the cat has "come back" as a hobby,
Oh, let us be thankful for that,
For it might be the coon or the blue-nosed baboon,
Or the deadly Norwegian rat.