To a Cat
To a Cat - meaning Summary
Feline as Timeless Other
Borges addresses a cat as an aloof, almost mythic presence: silent, secretive and panther-like. The speaker admires its remoteness—cast as older than rivers and sunsets—and accepts a relationship marked by gentle, wary touch. The cat belongs to a different time and a dreamlike realm, embodying solitude and mysterious sovereignty. The poem treats feline otherness as a bridge between intimate affection and ineffable distance.
Read Complete AnalysesMirrors are not more silent nor the creeping dawn more secretive; in the moonlight, you are that panther we catch sight of from afar. By the inexplicable workings of a divine law, we look for you in vain; More remote, even, than the Ganges or the setting sun, yours is the solitude, yours the secret. Your haunch allows the lingering caress of my hand. You have accepted, since that long forgotten past, the love of the distrustful hand. You belong to another time. You are lord of a place bounded like a dream.
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