William Carlos Williams

Complete Destruction

Complete Destruction - context Summary

Burial of a Pet Cat

Composed for the burial of a pet cat, the poem records a small domestic ritual in plain, unsentimental detail. The speaker describes burying the cat, burning the box, and noting that remaining fleas succumbed to the cold. The short, report-like lines compress action and aftermath, turning a personal moment of disposal and mourning into a stark, almost procedural account of trying to end life and its traces.

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It was an icy day. We buried the cat, then took her box and set fire to it in the back yard. Those fleas that escaped earth and fire died by the cold.

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