— A Song of Wandering Aengus

I went out to the hazel wood,

Because a fire was in my head,

And cut and peeled a hazel wand,

And hooked a berry to a thread;

And when white moths were on the wing,

And moth-like stars were flickering out,

I dropped the berry in a stream

And caught a little silver trout.

W.B. Yeats

 

–The thought fox.

[…] Cold, delicately as the dark snow

A fox’s nose touches twig, leaf. […]

Ted Hughes

 

–Silver

Slowly, silently, now the moon

Walks the night in her silver shoon;

This way, and that, she peers, and sees

Silver fruit upon silver trees;

 

[…] Couched in his kennel, like a log,

With paws of silver sleeps the dog;

[…] A harvest mouse goes scampering by,

With silver claws, and silver eye;

And moveless fish in the water gleam,

By silver reeds in a silver stream.

Walter de la Mare

 

–The Owl and the Pussy-cat

[…] The Owl looked up to the stars above,

And sang to a small guitar,

‘O lovely Pussy! O Pussy my love,

What a beautiful Pussy you are, You are, You are!

What a beautiful Pussy you are!’ […]

‘Dear pig, are you willing to sell for one shilling

Your ring?’ Said the Piggy, ‘I will.’

So they took it away, and were married next day

By the Turkey who lives on the hill.

They dined on mince, and slices of quince,

Which they ate with a runcible spoon;

And hand in hand, on the edge of the sand,

They danced by the light of the moon,

The moon, The moon,

They danced by the light of the moon

Edward Lear

 

–Macavity The Mystery Cat

Macavity’s a Mystery Cat: he’s called the Hidden Paw– […]

He’s outwardly respectable. (They say he cheats at cards.)

And his footprints are not found in any file of Scotland Yard’s.

And when the larder’s looted, or the jewel-case is rifled,

Or when the milk is missing, or another Peke’s been stifled,

Or the greenhouse glass is broken, and the trellis past repair–

Ay, there’s the wonder of the thing! Macavity’s not there!

 

And when the Foreign Office finds a Treaty’s gone astray,

Or the Admiralty lose some plans and drawings by the way,

There may be a scap of paper in the hall or on the stair–

But it’s useless of investigate–Macavity’s not there!

And when the loss has been disclosed, the Secret Service say:

“It must have been Macavity!”–but he’s a mile away.

You’ll be sure to find him resting, or a-licking of his thumbs,

Or engaged in doing complicated long division sums.

T S Eliot