Esther’s Tomcat
Daylong this tomcat lies stretched flat As an old rough mat, no mouth and no eyes. Continual wars and wives are what Have tattered his ears and battered his head. Like a bundle of old rope and iron Sleeps till blue dusk. Then reappear His eyes, green as ringstones: he yawns wide red, Fangs fine as a lady's needle and bright. A tomcat sprang at a mounted knight, Locked round his neck like a trap of hooks While the knight rode fighting its clawing and bite. After hundreds of years the stain's there On the stone where he fell, dead of the tom: That was at Barnborough. The tomcat still Grallochs odd dogs on the quiet, Will take the head clean off your simple pullet. Is unkillable. From the dog's fury, From gunshot fired point-blank he brings His skin whole, and whole From owlish moons of bekittenings Among ashcans. He leaps and lightly Walks upon sleep, his mind on the moon Nightly over the round world of men Over the roofs go his eyes and outcry.
Esther’s Tomcat - form Summary
Dusk Releases the Predator
The poem is structured around a sharp shift from daylight stillness to nocturnal activity. Its first half presents the tomcat as battered, inert, and almost object-like; dusk then restores his eyes, weapons, and legendary violence. This turn makes the cat seem to belong to two worlds: an ordinary domestic one by day and an ancient, untouchable realm of hunting, survival, and moonlit movement by night.
Feel free to be first to leave comment.