Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, FABLE: THE SCHOLAR AND THE CAT, by NATHANIEL COTTON


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

FABLE: THE SCHOLAR AND THE CAT, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Labour entitles man to eat
Last Line: Instruct vain supercilious man.'
Subject(s): Activity; Animals; Cats; Fables; Reason; Scholarship & Scholars; Virtue; Exercise; Allegories; Intellect; Rationalism; Brain; Mind; Intellectuals


That true Virtue consists in Action, and not in Speculation.

LABOUR entitles man to eat,
The idle have no claim to meat.
This rule must every station fit,
Because 'tis drawn from sacred writ.
And yet, to feed on such condition,
Almost amounts to prohibition.
Rome's priesthood would be doom'd, I fear,
To eat soup maigre all the year.
And would not Oxford's cloister'd son
By this hard statute be undone?
In truth, your poet, were he fed
No oft'ner than he earns his bread,
The vengeance of this law would feel,
And often go without a meal.
It seem'd a Scholar and his Cat
Together join'd in social chat.
When thus the letter'd youth began—
'Of what vast consequence is man!
Lords of this nether globe we shine,
Our tenure's held by right divine.
Here independence waves its plea,
All creatures bow the vassal knee.
Nor earth alone can bound our reign,
Ours is the empire of the main.
'True—man's a sovereign prince—but say,
What art sustains the monarch's sway.
Say from what source we fetch supplies,
'Tis here the grand enquiry lies.
Strength is not man's—for strength must suit
Best with the structure of a brute.
Nor craft nor cunning can suffice,
A fox might then dispute the prize.
To godlike Reason 'tis we owe
Our ball and sceptre here below.
'Now your associate next explains
To whom precedence appertains.
And sure 'tis easy to divine
The leaders of this royal line.
Note, that all tradesmen I attest
But petty princes at the best.
Superior excellence you'll find
In those, who cultivate the mind.
Hence heads of colleges, you'll own,
Transcend the' assessors of a throne.
Say, Evans, have you any doubt?
You can't offend by speaking out.'
With visage placid and sedate,
Puss thus address'd her learned mate.
'We're told that none in Nature's plan
Disputes pre-eminence with man.
But this is still a dubious case
To me, and all our purring race.
We grant indeed to partial eyes
Men may appear supremely wise.
But our sagacious rabbies hold,
That all which glitters is not gold.
Pray, if your haughty claims be true,
Why are our manners ap'd by you?
Whene'er you think, all Cats agree,
You shut your optics, just as we.
Pray, why like Cats so wrapt in thought,
If you by Cats were never taught?
But know, our tabby schools maintain
Worth is not center'd in the brain.
Not that our sages thought despise—
No—but in action virtue lies.
We find it by experience fact,
That thought must ripen into act;
Or Cat no real fame acquires,
But virtue in the bud expires.
This point your orchard can decide—
Observe its gay autumnal pride.
For trees are held in high repute,
Not for their blossoms, but their fruit.
If so, then Miller's page decrees
Mere Scholars to be barren trees.
But if these various reasons fail,
Let my example once prevail.
'When to your chamber you repair,
Your property employs my care.
And while you sink in sweet repose,
My faithful eyelids never close.
When hunger prompts the mouse to steal,
Then I display my honest zeal;
True to my charge, these talons seize
The wretch, who dares purloin your cheese.
Or should the thief assault your bread,
I strike the' audacious felon dead.
'Nor say I spring at smaller game,
My prowess slaughter'd rats proclaim.
I'm told, your generals often fly,
When danger and when death are nigh:
Nay, when nor death nor danger's near,
As your court-martials make appear.
When in your service we engage,
We brave the pilfering villain's rage;
Ne'er take advantage of the night,
To meditate inglorious flight;
But stand resolv'd, when foes defy,
To conquer, or to bravely die.
'Hence, Bookworm, learn our duty here
Is active life in every sphere.
Know too, there's scarce a brute but can
Instruct vain supercilious man.'





Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!


Other Poems of Interest...
Home: PoetryExplorer.net