A Kitten's Fancy

The Kitten mews outside the Door,
    The Cat-bird in the Tree,
The Sea-mew mews upon the Shore,
    The Catfish in the Sea.

The Emu with his feathers queer
    Is mewing in the Zoo.
Why is it that I never hear
    A Pussy-willow mew?

Oliver Herford

Oliver Herford was born in England on December 2, 1860. He was a British-born American writer, artist, and illustrator, often referred to as 'The American Oscar Wilde' for his sharp wit and humorous works. Herford authored and illustrated many books for children and adults, contributing to magazines such as "The Criterion", "Life", and "Punch". He died on July 5, 1935, in France.

Oliver Herford

An Arctic Hare.

Oliver Herford, Simple Poetry

A Whale.

Oliver Herford, Simple Poetry

The Yak.

Oliver Herford, Simple Poetry

The Fly.

Oliver Herford, Simple Poetry

English

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Foreign Kittens

Kittens large and Kittens small,
Prowling on the Back Yard Wall,
Though your fur be rough and few,
I should like to play with you.
Though you roam the dangerous street,
And have curious things to eat,
Though you sleep in barn or loft,
With no cushions warm and soft,
Though you have to stay out-doors
When it's cold or when it pours,
Though your fur is all askew--
How I'd like to play with you!

Oliver Herford

Find The Favorite

Our three cats is Maltese cats,
    An' they's two that's white, -
An' bofe of 'em's deef - an' that's
    'Cause their eyes ain't right. -


Uncle say that Huxley say
    Eyes of white Maltese -
When they don't match thataway -
    They're deef as you please!

Girls, they like our white cats best,
    'Cause they're white as snow,
Yes, an' look the stylishest -
    But they're deef, you know!

They don't know their names, an' don't
    Hear us when we call
"Come in, Nick an' Finn!" - they won't
    Come fer us at all!

But our other cat, he knows
    Mister Nick an' Finn, -
Mowg's his name, - an' when he goes
    Fer 'em, they come in!

Mowgli's

James Whitcomb Riley

The Game

Watching a ball on the end of a string,
    Watching it swing back and to,
Oh, I do think it the pleasantest thing
    Ever a Kitten can do.

First it goes this way, then it goes that,
    Just like a bird on the wing.
And all of a tremble I crouch on the mat
    Like a Lion, preparing to spring.

And now with a terrible deafening mew,
    Like a Tiger I leap on my prey,
And just when I think I have torn it in two
    It is up in the air and away.

Oliver Herford

Education

When People think that Kittens play,
    It's really quite the other way.
For when they chase the Ball or Bobbin
    They learn to catch a Mouse or Robin.

The Kitten, deaf to Duty's call,
    Who will not chase the bounding ball,
A hungry Cathood will enjoy,
    The scorn of Mouse and Bird and Boy.

Oliver Herford

The Shadow Kitten

There's a funny little kitten that tries to look like me,
    But though I'm round and fluffy, he's as flat as flat can be;
And when I try to mew to him he never makes a sound,
    And when I jump into the air he never leaves the ground.

He has a way of growing, I don't understand at all.
    Sometimes he's very little and sometimes he's very tall.
And once when in the garden when the sun came up at dawn
    He grew so big I think he stretched half-way across the lawn.

Oliver Herford

The Golden Cat

Great is the Golden Cat who treads
    The Blue Roof Garden o'er our heads,
The never tired smiling One
    That Human People call the Sun.

He stretches forth his paw at dawn
    And though the blinds are closely drawn
His claws peep through like Rays of Light,
    To catch the fluttering Bird of Night.

He smiles into the Hayloft dim
    And the brown Hay smiles back at him,
And when he strokes the Earth's green fur
    He makes the Fields and Meadows purr.

His face is one big Golden smile,
    It measures round, at least a mile--
How dull our World would be, and flat,
    Without the Golden Pussy Cat.

Oliver Herford