Cats and Kittens

By Lydia H. Sigourney

Annotations by Abby Army

Aunt Mary’s cat three snowy kittens had, 
Playful, and fat, and gay. And she would sport,
And let them climb upon her back, and spread
Her paws to fondle them,—and when she saw
Her mistress come that way, would proudly show,
Her darlings, purring with intense delight,
—But one was missing, and grimalkin[3] ran
Distracted, searching with a mother’s haste
Parlor and garret[4], sofa, box and bed,
Calling her baby with a mournful cry,
And questioning each creature that she met,
In her cat-language, eloquently shrill.
And then she left the house. Two hours pass’d by,
When bringing her lost treasure in her mouth,
She came exulting. While her mewing train
Joined in loud welcome, she with raptured zeal
Washed and rewashed their velvet face and paws.
—It had been given to a kind lady’s care,
By my aunt Mary, out of pure good will
To pussy, fearing she might be fatigued
By too much care and nursing. But she sought
From house to house, among neighbors all, 
Until she found, and numbered it again
With her heart’s jewels.
                            One full month she fed
And nurtured it. Then by the neck she took
The same young kitten, and conveyed it back
To the same house,—and laid it in the lap
Of the same good old lady, as she sat
Knitting upon the sofa. Much surprised, 
She raised her spectacles to view the cat,
Who, with a most insinuating tone,
Fawning and rubbing round her slippered foot,
Bespoke her favoring notice.
                                This is true;
Aunt Mary told me so.

                                  Did pussy think
Her child too young for service? and when grown
To greater vigor, did she mean to show
Full apprabotion [sic] of her mistress choice
By passing many a nearer house, to find
The lady that its first indentures held?
—This looks like reason, and they say that brutes
Are only led by instinct. Yet ‘tis hard
Sometimes to draw the line where one begins
And where the other ceases.
                                   But I know
That kindness to domestic animals
Improves their nature,—and ‘tis very wrong
To take away their comforts, and be cross
And cruel to them. The kind-hearted child
Who makes them humble friends, will surely find
A pleasure in such goodness, and obey
The book of wisdom in its law of love.

Sigourney, L. H. “Cats and Kittens.” The Youth’s Companion 18, no. 7 (June 1844): 28.