Cat

Dear creature by the fire a-purr,
 Strange idol, eminently bland,
Miraculous puss! As o’er your fur
 I trail a negligible hand,
And gaze into your gazing eyes,
 And wonder in a demi-dream,
What mystery it is that lies,
 Behind those slits that glare and gleam,
An exquisite enchantment falls
 About the portals of my sense;
Meandering through enormous halls,
 I breathe luxurious frankincense,
An ampler air, a warmer June
 Enfold me, and my wondering eye
Salutes a more imperial moon
 Throned in a more resplendent sky
Than ever knew this northern shore.
 Oh, strange! For you are with me, too,
And I who am a cat once more
 Follow the woman that was you
With tail erect and pompous march,
 The proudest puss that ever trod,
Through many a grove, ‘neath many an arch,
 Impenetrable as a god.
Down many an alabaster flight
 Of broad and cedar-shaded, stairs,
While over us the elaborate night
 Mysteriously gleams and glares.

by Lytton Strachey (1880 – 1932)