The Cat and the Moon
By William Butler Yeats
“The cat went here and there
And the moon spun round like a top,
And the nearest kin of the moon,
The creeping cat, looked up.
Black Minnaloushe stared at the moon,
For, wander and wail as he would,
The pure cold light in the sky
Troubled his animal blood.
Minnaloushe runs in the grass
Lifting his delicate feet.
Do you dance,Minnaloushe, do you dance?”
#poemsbeforephone
monalyisha I looked up Minnaloushe to see if the name was a reference to something. Here‘s the closest explanation I found!: “In German, "minna" means protective, and loushe is pretty close to the sound of the word for "light" in latin (lux, lucis). So I think that Minnaloushe may mean "protective light”... which certainly goes with the moon image & the idea of Minnaloushe as a familiar.” 5y
monalyisha (Minnaloushe was the name of Maud Gonne‘s cat.) 5y
DivineDiana @monalyisha Thank you for adding so much to my enjoyment of this poem! ❤️ 5y
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DivineDiana @monalyisha And while Googling Maud Gonne, I discovered that she, indeed, was Yeats muse! 😲 5y
monalyisha @DivineDiana No prob! I was just curious. If I weren‘t allergic to cats, I‘d totally catalog that name for future use. 😺 5y
Bradleygirl Aw great one, I read it this month too! Cats are delightful poetry subjects 5y
DivineDiana @Bradleygirl Agree! 😻 5y
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