Wild Gratitude Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABACDEFA AGACHIA JKAAACAF LMNBO PQ RSTKFACA U VMFWC| Tonight when I knelt down next to our cat Zooey | A |
| And put my fingers into her clean cat's mouth | B |
| And rubbed her swollen belly that will never know kittens | A |
| And watched her wriggle onto her side pawing the air | C |
| And listened to her solemn little squeals of delight | D |
| I was thinking about the poet Christopher Smart | E |
| Who wanted to kneel down and pray without ceasing | F |
| In everyone of the splintered London streets | A |
| - | |
| And was locked away in the madhouse at St Luke's | A |
| With his sad religious mania and his wild gratitude | G |
| And his grave prayers for the other lunatics | A |
| And his great love for his speckled cat Jeoffry | C |
| All day today August I remembered how | H |
| Christopher Smart blessed this same day in August | I |
| For its calm bravery and ordinary good conscience | A |
| - | |
| This was the day that he blessed the Postmaster General | J |
| 'And all conveyancers of letters' for their warm humanity | K |
| And the gardeners for their private benevolence | A |
| And intricate knowledge of the language of flowers | A |
| And the milkmen for their universal human kindness | A |
| This morning I understood that he loved to hear | C |
| As I have heard the soft clink of milk bottles | A |
| On the rickety stairs in the early morning | F |
| - | |
| And how terrible it must have seemed | L |
| When even this small pleasure was denied him | M |
| But it wasn't until tonight when I knelt down | N |
| And slipped my hand into Zooey's waggling mouth | B |
| That I remembered how he'd called Jeoffry 'the servant | O |
| Of the Living God duly and daily serving Him ' | - |
| And for the first time understood what it meant | P |
| Because it wasn't until I saw my own cat | Q |
| - | |
| Whine and roll over on her fluffy back | R |
| That I realized how gratefully he had watched | S |
| Jeoffry fetch and carry his wooden cork | T |
| Across the grass in the wet garden patiently | K |
| Jumping over a high stick calmly sharpening | F |
| His claws on the woodpile rubbing his nose | A |
| Against the nose of another cat stretching or | C |
| Slowly stalking his traditional enemy the mouse | A |
| A rodent 'a creature of great personal valour ' | - |
| And then dallying so much that his enemy escaped | U |
| - | |
| And only then did I understand | V |
| It is Jeoffry and every creature like him | M |
| Who can teach us how to praise purring | F |
| In their own language | W |
| Wreathing themselves in the living fire | C |
Edward Hirsch
(1)
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About Wild Gratitude
Wild Gratitude is a poem by Edward Hirsch. This page includes the poem text, poet information, related topics, comments, and similar poems.