Macavity: The Mystery Cat Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: AABB CCBBBB DDCCEE CCBB FFCCBB GGBBGGHH CCBBIIJJ| Macavity's a Mystery Cat he's called the Hidden Paw | A |
| For he's the master criminal who can defy the Law | A |
| He's the bafflement of Scotland Yard the Flying Squad's despair | B |
| For when they reach the scene of crime Macavity's not there | B |
| - | |
| Macavity Macavity there's no on like Macavity | C |
| He's broken every human law he breaks the law of gravity | C |
| His powers of levitation would make a fakir stare | B |
| And when you reach the scene of crime Macavity's not there | B |
| You may seek him in the basement you may look up in the air | B |
| But I tell you once and once again Macavity's not there | B |
| - | |
| Macavity's a ginger cat he's very tall and thin | D |
| You would know him if you saw him for his eyes are sunken in | D |
| His brow is deeply lined with thought his head is highly doomed | C |
| His coat is dusty from neglect his whiskers are uncombed | C |
| He sways his head from side to side with movements like a snake | E |
| And when you think he's half asleep he's always wide awake | E |
| - | |
| Macavity Macavity there's no one like Macavity | C |
| For he's a fiend in feline shape a monster of depravity | C |
| You may meet him in a by street you may see him in the square | B |
| But when a crime's discovered then Macavity's not there | B |
| - | |
| He's outwardly respectable They say he cheats at cards | F |
| And his footprints are not found in any file of Scotland Yard's | F |
| And when the larder's looted or the jewel case is rifled | C |
| Or when the milk is missing or another Peke's been stifled | C |
| Or the greenhouse glass is broken and the trellis past repair | B |
| Ay there's the wonder of the thing Macavity's not there | B |
| - | |
| And when the Foreign Office finds a Treaty's gone astray | G |
| Or the Admiralty lose some plans and drawings by the way | G |
| There may be a scap of paper in the hall or on the stair | B |
| But it's useless of investigate Macavity's not there | B |
| And when the loss has been disclosed the Secret Service say | G |
| It must have been Macavity but he's a mile away | G |
| You'll be sure to find him resting or a licking of his thumbs | H |
| Or engaged in doing complicated long division sums | H |
| - | |
| Macavity Macavity there's no one like Macacity | C |
| There never was a Cat of such deceitfulness and suavity | C |
| He always has an alibit or one or two to spare | B |
| And whatever time the deed took place MACAVITY WASN'T THERE | B |
| And they say that all the Cats whose wicked deeds are widely known | I |
| I might mention Mungojerrie I might mention Griddlebone | I |
| Are nothing more than agents for the Cat who all the time | J |
| Just controls their operations the Napoleon of Crime | J |
T. S. Eliot
(1)
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About Macavity: The Mystery Cat
Macavity: The Mystery Cat is a poem by T. S. Eliot. This page includes the poem text, poet information, related topics, comments, and similar poems.
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