Macavity The Mystery Cat (Poem)

Unit 4 – Poem

Macavity – The Mystery Cat

T. S. Eliot

Warm Up

A. A French proverb goes thus: “The dog may be wonderful prose, but only the cat is poetry.”
You may have observed that all animals possess a number of unique qualities. Fill in the columns with words and phrases associated with each of the following animals.

DOG	CAT	WOLF	ELEPHANT

B. People admire some of these animal qualities. What are they? Have you noticed some of them in yourself or in others? Share your views with the class.

There is always an air of mystery in cats. They appear to see something which we don’t. Macavity is one such elusive, agile and phantom-like cat. Read this humorous lyric poem and find out what happens when he strikes.

Macavity – The Mystery Cat

Macavity’s a Mystery Cat: he’s called the Hidden Paw
For he’s the master criminal who can defy the Law.
He’s the bafflement of Scotland Yard, the Flying Squad’s despair:
For when they reach the scene of crime — Macavity’s not there!

Macavity, Macavity, there’s no one like Macavity,
He’s broken every human law, he breaks the law of gravity.
His powers of levitation would make a fakir stare,
And when you reach the scene of crime — Macavity’s not there!

You may seek him in the basement, you may look up in the air —
But I tell you once and once again, Macavity’s not there!

Macavity’s a ginger cat, he’s very tall and thin;
You would know him if you saw him, for his eyes are sunken in.
His brow is deeply lined with thought, his head is highly domed;
His coat is dusty from neglect, his whiskers are uncombed.
He sways his head from side to side, with movements like a snake;
And when you think he’s half asleep, he’s always wide awake.

Macavity, Macavity, there’s no one like Macavity,
For he’s a fiend in feline shape, a monster of depravity.
You may meet him in a by-street, you may see him in the square —
But when a crime’s discovered, then Macavity’s not there!

He’s outwardly respectable. (They say he cheats at cards.)
And his footprints are not found in any file of Scotland Yard’s.
And when the larder’s looted, or the jewel-case is rifled,
Or when the milk is missing, or another Peke’s been stifled,
Or the greenhouse glass is broken, and the trellis past repair
Ay, there’s the wonder of the thing! Macavity’s not there!

And when the Foreign Office find a Treaty’s gone astray,
Or the Admiralty lose some plans and drawings by the way,
There may be a scrap of paper in the hall or on the stair
But it’s useless to investigate — Macavity’s not there!

And when the loss has been disclosed, the Secret Service say:
“It must have been Macavity!” — but he’s a mile away.
You’ll be sure to find him resting, or a-licking of his thumbs,
Or engaged in doing complicated long division sums.

Macavity, Macavity, there’s no one like Macavity,
There never was a Cat of such deceitfulness and suavity.
He always has an alibi, and one or two to spare:
At whatever time the deed took place — MACAVITY WASN’T THERE!

And they say that all the Cats whose wicked deeds are widely known,
(I might mention Mungojerrie, I might mention Griddlebone)
Are nothing more than agents for the Cat who all the time
Just controls their operations: the Napoleon of Crime.

About the Author

Thomas Stearns Eliot (1888 – 1965) was an essayist, a critic, a playwright and a pioneering poet of the twentieth century. He attended Smith Academy in St. Louis and then Milton Academy in Massachusetts. He graduated from Harvard University and then left for France and the Sorbonne to study philosophy. He returned to Harvard and deepened his knowledge by reading Indian philosophy and studying Sanskrit. He also finished his advanced degree at Harvard.

Some of his popular poems include ‘The Wasteland’, ‘Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock’, ‘Ash Wednesday’, ‘Four Quartets’, ‘Journey of the Magi’, ‘After Strange Gods’ and ‘Naming of Cats’. He won the Order of Merit and received the Nobel Prize for Literature in the year 1948.

Glossary

• stifle – to suppress someone from acting
• trellis – wooden bar used as a support for creepers
• defy – to resist or to challenge
• bafflement – total confusion
• Scotland Yard – the headquarters of London Metropolitan Police Service
• Flying Squad – a police force ready to plunge into action
• levitation – the action of rising and floating in air
• fakir – a holy person who lives on alms and has the power to levitate
• ginger – a light brownish-orange colour
• fiend – demon
• feline – cat
• depravity – evil quality
• larder – cupboard for storing food
• rifle – ransack to steal
• Peke – a Pekinese dog
• Admiralty – a Government Department that administered the British Navy
• deceitfulness – cunningness
• suavity – confidence and sophistication
• alibi – a claim of evidence that one was elsewhere when a crime was committed
• Mungojerrie and Griddlebone – fictional characters specialised in petty thefts and mischief in T. S. Eliot’s book ‘Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats’
• Napoleon of Crime – the commanding leader of criminals

Comprehension

A. Based on your understanding of the poem, answer the following questions in a sentence or two.

1. What is Macavity’s nickname?
2. Why is the Flying Squad frustrated?
3. Which law does Macavity break?
4. What makes the fakir stare in wonder?
5. Describe Macavity’s appearance.
6. Where can you encounter Macavity?
7. Why does the poet say Macavity is ‘outwardly’ respectable?
8. Who does the Secret Service suspect when a loss is reported?
9. What is Macavity expected to be doing after committing a crime?
10. Mention any two qualities of Macavity.
11. Which two characters does the poet refer to as examples of wicked cats?
12. Why is Macavity called the ‘Napoleon of Crime’?

B. Read the poem once again and complete the summary using the words given in the box.

(larder, whiskers, respectable, criminal, devil, thought, sunken, division, agents, detective, alibi, desperate, fakir, qualities, gravity, greenhouse)

‘Macavity – The Mystery Cat’ is a humorous poem, where the poet T. S. Eliot describes the mysterious (a) _ of a shrewd vile cat. He commits a crime at every possible opportunity. He is an elusive master (b) _ who leaves no evidence after he commits a crime. Even the Scotland Yard, the London (c) _ agency is unable to arrest him. The Flying Squad is (d) _ because every time they rush to the crime spot to seize Macavity, he is not there. He breaks the human law as well as the law of (e) _. He baffles even a (f) _ with his powers of levitation. Macavity appears tall and thin with (g) _ eyes. He is always preoccupied with some serious (h) _. His coat is dusty and his (i) _ are unkempt. Macavity is a (j) _ in the guise of a cat. He appears to be outwardly (k) _ but his actions disprove it. Macavity loots the (l) ___, ransacks the jewel-case, and breaks the (m) _ glass but wonder of wonders he is not to be found anywhere there. He is always a mile away from the scene of crime, happily relaxing or doing difficult (n) _ sums. He is clever at making up an (o) _ every time he plots a crime. All the notorious cats are nothing but the (p) _ of Macavity, the Napoleon of Crime.

C. Read the poem and answer the following in a short paragraph of 8 to 10 sentences each.

1. What are the mysterious ways in which Macavity acts?
2. Give an account of Macavity’s destructive mischief.
3. Describe the appearance and qualities of Macavity.

D. Read the given lines and answer the questions that follow.

1. Macavity’s a Mystery Cat: he’s called the Hidden Paw…
   a) Does the poet talk about a real cat?
   b) Why is he called the Hidden Paw?

2. He’s the bafflement of Scotland Yard, the Flying Squad’s despair:
   For when they reach the scene of crime — Macavity’s not there!…
   a) What is ‘Scotland Yard’?
   b) Why does the flying squad feel disappointed?

3. He sways his head from side to side, with movements like a snake;
   And when you think he’s half asleep, he’s always wide awake…
   a) Explain the comparison made here.
   b) What does he pretend to do?

4. For he’s a fiend in feline shape, a monster of depravity.
   a) How is the cat described in this line?
   b) Explain the phrase ‘monster of depravity’.

5. And his footprints are not found in any file of Scotland Yard’s.
   a) What seems to be a challenge for the Scotland Yard?
   b) Why do they need his footprints?

6. ‘It must have been Macavity!’ but he’s a mile away.
   a) What is Macavity blamed for?
   b) Where is he?

7. There never was a Cat of such deceitfulness and suavity.
   a) Which cat is being talked of here?
   b) How is he different from the rest?

E. Explain the following lines with reference to the context.

1. His powers of levitation would make a fakir stare
2. And when you think he’s half asleep, he’s always wide awake
3. And his footprints are not found in any file of Scotland Yard’s
4. There may be a scrap of paper in the hall or on the stair
   But it’s useless to investigate…
5. He always has an alibi, and one or two to spare

F. Eliot has used many figures of speech to present the poem to the readers in an interesting way. He has attributed human qualities to a cat in this poem.

1. Identify the literary devices used in the following lines:
   a. He sways his head from side to side, with movements like a snake.
   b. They say he cheats at cards.

2. Give four instances where the poet has used alliteration in the poem.

3. What is the rhyme scheme used in the poem?

4. Pick out all the pairs of rhyming words used in the poem.

G. Listening Activity

Limericks: Poetry is of different forms and types. One among them is the Limerick. Limerick is a light, humorous verse form of five lines. The lines 1, 2 and 5 are of three feet and lines 3 and 4 are of two feet following the rhyme scheme aabba.

First, read the following sets of limericks with missing words. Now, listen to them being read out aloud by your teacher or played on the recorder. As you enjoy the absurd fun, complete the verse with what you hear. You may listen to them again, if required.

I
A wonderful bird is the (i) _
His beak can hold more than his (ii) __ can.
He can hold in his beak
Enough food for a (iii) ____!
But I’ll be darned if I know how the Peli-can?

II
There once was a (iv) __ at the zoo
Who always had something to do
When it (v) _ him, you know,
To go to and fro,
He (vi) ___ it and went fro and to.

III
There once was a (vii) _____ little bunny
Who I thought was sweet and (viii) ____
He ate all the carrots,
And looked at the (ix) ___
And that was my cute little (x) ______.

H. Speaking Activity

Work with a partner. Read the following questions and share your views with the class.

1. Have you heard of the phrase ‘cat’s paw’? The meaning is similar to that of ‘firing from the other’s shoulder’. ‘Cat’s paw’ refers to a person who is used unwittingly or unwillingly by another person to accomplish his own purpose.
   a. This phrase originates from the fable ‘The Monkey and the Cat’. Explain how Macavity contradicts the phrase ‘cat’s paw’.
   b. ‘When the mouse laughs at the cat, there is a hole nearby.’ Explain the meaning of this statement to your friends.

2. Compose your own limericks on an elephant, a peacock and a butterfly. Read it out to your class.

9. Parallel Reading

The Microbe – Hilaire Belloc

The Microbe is so very small
You cannot make him out at all,
But many sanguine people hope
To see him through a microscope.
His jointed tongue that lies beneath
A hundred curious rows of teeth;
His seven tufted tails with lots
Of lovely pink and purple spots,
On each of which a pattern stands,
Composed of forty separate bands;
His eyebrows of a tender green;
All these have never yet been seen--
But Scientists, who ought to know,
Assure us that they must be so....
Oh! let us never, never doubt
What nobody is sure about!