THE 
 
 RUBAIYAT 
 
 A PERSIAN - 
 KITTEN 
 
 ;-NRLF 
 
 OLIVER HERFORD 
 
The Rubaiyat of a 
 Persian Kitten 
 
THE KITTEN S GARDEN 
 OF VERSES 
 
 WRITTEN AND ILLUSTRATED BY 
 
 OLIVER HERFORD 
 
 Sl.OOnef 
 
 "A worthy companion to the Rubaiyat 
 of a Persian Kitten. " 
 
 Springfield Republican. 
 
 " In each one of Mr. Herford s charming 
 drawings we find a bewitching picture 
 of kittenhood." Chicago Evening Post. 
 
 CHARLES SCRIBNER S SONS 
 
The 
 
 Rubaiyat 
 
 of a 
 
 pereian Kitten 
 
 By 
 
 Oliver f)crford 
 
 Charles Scribncrs Sons 
 JVktnxii 
 
0]0 J .7 
 
 Copyright, 1 904, by 
 Oliver f)crf ord 
 

 Cbe Rubaiyat of a 
 Persian Kitten 
 
 241124 
 
afce ! for the Golden Cat has 
 
 put to flight 
 jVIouse of Darkness 
 
 with bis paw of Light: 
 Ctthich means, in plain and 
 
 simple every-day 
 dnoriental Speech- - Cbc Dawn 
 
 is bright. 
 

 
 bey say the 6arly Bird the 
 <Horm shall taste, 
 rise, O Kitten ! ^therefore, 
 sleeping, waste 
 
 The fruits of Virtue ? Quick ! 
 
 the Garly Bird 
 soon be on the f lutter O 
 
 make haste! 
 
Cbe early Bird has gone, and 
 with him ta en 
 rbe early Qttorm Hlas! the 
 
 JYIoral f s plain, 
 O Senseless Cdorm ! TTbus, 
 
 thus we are repaid 
 for Garly Rising I shall doze 
 
 again. 
 

Che JVIouse makes merry f mid 
 the Larder Shelves, 
 The Bird for Dinner in the 
 
 Garden delves, 
 1 often wonder what the 
 
 creatures eat 
 
 One half so toothsome as they 
 
 are Themselves. 
 
Hnd that Inverted Bowl of 
 Sfcyblue pelf 
 "Chat helpless lies upon the 
 
 pantry Shelf- 
 Lift not your eyes to It for 
 
 help, for It 
 Is quite as empty as you are 
 
 yourself 
 

 
Che Ball no question makes of 
 Hyes or ]Voes, 
 But right or left, as strikes the 
 
 Kitten, goes; 
 Y*t why, altbo t I toss it far 
 
 Hfield, 
 It still returnetb Goodness 
 
 only knows! 
 

H Secret presence tbat my 
 likeness feigns, 
 
 Hnd yet, quicksilver-like, eludes 
 
 my pains- 
 In vain I look for f)im 
 
 behind the glass ; 
 f)e is not there, and yet f)e still 
 
 remains. 
 
, - 
 
 -:/ - 
 
 
bat out of airy ]Votbing to 
 
 invoke 
 
 H senseless Something to resist 
 
 the stroke 
 Of unpermitted paw upon 
 
 the pain 
 Of everlasting penalties- -if 
 
 broke. 
 
r 
 
 
I sometimes think the pussy- 
 Willows grey 
 
 Hre Hngel Kittens who have lost 
 
 their way, 
 Hnd every Bulrush on the 
 
 river bank 
 H Cat- Cail from some lovely 
 
 Cat astray. 
 

 - 
 
 
 
8omctimc9 I think perchance 
 that HUah may, 
 Often he created Cats, haw 
 
 thrown away 
 Che trails f)e marred in 
 
 making, and they grew 
 Co Cat-rails and to pussy- 
 
 CdiUows grey. 
 
. . 
 
 
 
 
 
Hnd lately, when I was not 
 feeling fit, 
 
 Bereft alike of piety and Slit, 
 Cbere came an Hngel Shape 
 
 and offered me 
 H fragrant plant and bid me 
 
 taste of it. 
 

 _ 
 
Cwas that reviving F)erb, 
 that Spicy Sdced, 
 be Cat-]Vip. rbo f tis good in 
 
 time of need, 
 Hb, feed upon it ligbtly, for 
 
 wbo knows 
 
 "Co wbat unlovely antics it may 
 
 lead 
 

Strange- -is it not? that of 
 the numbers who 
 Before me passed this Door of 
 
 Darkness tbro f , 
 
 Not one returns thro it again, 
 
 altbo 
 Ofttimes I ve waited bere an 
 
 bour or two. 
 

 
 
 
but a T^ent where takes 
 bis one jSigbt s Rest 
 H Rodent to tbe Realms of 
 
 Deatb address d, 
 Olben Cooh, arising, looks for 
 
 bim and tben- 
 Baits t and prepares it for 
 
 anotber Guest* 
 
Cbey say the Lion and the 
 Lizard keep 
 Che Courts where jfamshyd 
 
 gloried and drank deep. 
 Che Lion is my cousin ; X 
 
 don t know 
 
 jfamsbyd is nor shall it 
 break my sleep. 
 
Impotent glimpses of the 
 6ame displayed 
 
 Qpon the Counter temptingly 
 
 arrayed ; 
 f)itber and thither moved or 
 
 checked or weighed, 
 Hnd one by one back in the Ice 
 
 Chest laid. 
 

 I 
 
bat if the Sole could fling 
 
 the Ice aside, 
 Hud with me to some Hrea s 
 
 haven cflide- 
 Cttere *t not a Shame, were t 
 
 not a shame for it 
 In this Cold prison crippled to 
 
 abide? 
 

 
 -. 
 
 
8ome for the Glories of the 
 Sole, and Some 
 ]Mew for the proper Bowl of 
 
 JMilk to come, 
 
 Hb, take the fish and let your 
 
 Credit go, 
 Hnd plead the rumble of an 
 
 empty "Cum. 
 
s ^Jf^ 
 
One thing is certain: tbo this 
 Stolen Bite 
 Should be my last and Cdratb 
 
 consume me quite, 
 One taste of It within the Hrea 
 
 caught 
 Better than at the Table lost " 
 
 outright* 
 

 
Indeed, indeed Repentance oft 
 before 
 
 I swore, but was I hungry when 
 
 I swore? 
 Hnd then and then came Cook 
 
 -with f)ose in band- 
 Hnd drowned my glory in a 
 
 sorry pour. 
 

bat without asking hither 
 
 harried whence, 
 Hnd without asking whither 
 
 harried bence- 
 O, many a taste of that 
 
 forbidden Sole 
 
 JVIust down the memory of that. 
 
 Insolence, 
 

 v- 08 : 
 
neaven, but the vision of a 
 flowing Bowl; 
 
 Hnd F)ell, the sizzle of a frying 
 
 Sole 
 
 F)eard in the hungry Darkness, 
 
 where jVIyself , 
 
 So rudely cast, must impotently 
 
 roll 
 
Che Vine has a tough fibre 
 which about 
 
 3dhile clings my Being;- -let the 
 
 Canine flout 
 
 Oil his Bass Voice be pitched 
 
 to such loud key 
 It shall unlock the door 1 mew 
 
 without. 
 

 
 
 
 
Up from the Basement to the 
 Seventh flat 
 I rose, and on the Crown of 
 
 fashion sat> 
 
 Hnd many a Ball unravelled 
 
 by the way- 
 
 But not the Raster s angry Bawl 
 
 of "Scat 1" 
 

 . 
 
Chen to the Olcll of Olisdom I 
 -and lo! 
 
 CHitb my own paw I wrought to 
 
 make it flow, 
 
 Hnd This was all the Harvest 
 
 that 1 reaped: 
 
 come like Kittens and like 
 
 Cats we go. 
 

hy be this Ink the fount of 
 
 Cdit? who dare 
 Blaspheme the glistening pen- 
 drink as a snare? 
 H Blessing?--! should spread 
 it, should I not? 
 Hnd if a Curse- -why, then upset 
 
 it! there! 
 
H moment s F)alt, a 
 momentary Taste 
 Of Bitter, and amid the Trickling 
 
 CHaste 
 
 X wrought strange shapes from 
 JMah to jVIahi, yet 
 I know not what I wrote, nor 
 
 why they chased. 
 

 
TVTow I beyond the pale am 
 I 1 safely past, 
 O f but the long, long time their 
 
 Rage shall last, 
 Cdhich, tbo they call to supper, 
 
 I shall heed 
 Hs a Stone Cat should heed a 
 
 pebble cast. 
 

 , 
 
 
Hnd that perverted Soul 
 beneath the Sfcy 
 
 *Cbey call the Dog- -freed not bis 
 
 angry Cry; 
 
 all bis threats can make 
 me budge one bit, 
 ]Vor all bis Gmpty Bluster 
 
 terrify. 
 

Chey are no other than a 
 moving Show 
 
 Of whirling Shadow Shapes that 
 
 come and go 
 
 )VLe-ward thro ]Yloon illumined 
 Darkness hurled, 
 In midnight, by the Lodgers in 
 
 the Row, 
 
IVTJyself when young did eagerly 
 IT! frequent 
 Cbe Backyard fence and beard 
 
 great Hrgument 
 Hbout it, and Hbout, yet 
 
 evermore 
 
 Came out witb fewer fur tban in 
 
 I went. 
 

 K. 
 
 
 
 
 
 -" 
 
Hb, me! if you and I could 
 but conspire 
 To grasp this Sorry Scheme of 
 
 things entire, 
 ftlould we not shatter it to 
 
 bits, and then 
 
 Gnfold it nearer to our Heart s 
 
 Desire? 
 
- 
 
 
 .^ 
 
 
Cbo Two and Two make fbur 
 by rule of line. 
 Or they make Twenty-two by 
 
 Logic fine, 
 Of all tbe figures one may 
 
 fatbom t I 
 
 Sball ne er be floored by anytbing 
 
 but 
 

Hnd fear not lest Gxistence 
 shut the Door 
 On you and ]V[e, to open it no 
 
 more* 
 Cbe Cream of Life from out 
 
 your Bowl shall pour 
 ]Vine times ere it lie broken on 
 
 the floor. 
 

80, if the fish you Steal the 
 Cream you drink- 
 ends in what all begins and ends 
 
 in, Think, 
 
 dnless the Stern Recorder 
 
 points to j 
 tlho They would drown you 
 
 still you shall not sink. 
 

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