The Tom Cat

The Tom Cat

By Donald Robert Perry Marquis

At midnight in the alley
A Tom-cat comes to wail,
And he chants the hate of a million years
As he swings his snaky tail.

Malevolent, bony, brindled
Tiger and devil and bard,
His eyes are coals from the middle of Hell
And his heart is black and hard.

He twists and crouches and capers
And bares his curved sharp claws,
And he sings to the stars of the jungle nights
Ere cities were, or laws.

Beast from world primeval,
He and his leaping clan,
When the blotched red moon leers over the roofs,
Give voice to their scorn of man.

He will lie on a rug to-morrow
And lick his silky fur,
And veil the brute in his yellow eyes
And play he’s tame, and purr.

But at midnight in the alley
He will crouch again and wail,
And beat the time for his demon’s song
With the swing of his demon’s tail.

Summary of The Tom Cat

  • Popularity of “The Tom Cat”: “The Tom Cat” by Donald Robert Perry Marquis, an American journalist, humorist, and poet, is a beautiful humorous poem. It is unclear when the poem first appeared. However, it is interesting to note that the poem, despite the banality of the subject matter, has the unique power to pull its readers into reading from the very first line. The popularity of the poem lies in the beauty of the presentation of a tomcat that cries at night and becomes happy in the morning.
  • “The Tom Cat” As a Representative of Animal Nature: Marquis opens the poem with the description of the alley when it is midnight and states that a certain tomcat comes out to wail and cry as if it is erupting hatred reserved for ages. Although it seems malevolent and brindled, it seems like a tiger or a devil or even a bard that has some contempt in his heart and shows it only through his output. He means that the outpouring of hatred is in the cries of the tomcat. The poet, then, comments on his sitting position and claws, and compares his wailing to the singing to the stars as he used to do in the pre-city age or when there were animal laws. The poet, then, compares him to his clan saying that it shows his hatred for man, and yet he enjoys man’s hospitality, love, and care on the very next day while purring on the rug. Despite this, the tomcat continues his hatred-wailing practice to pass his time singing his song and wiggling his to show demonic features in him.
  • Major Themes in “The Tom Cat”: Animal nature, animal behavior, and human love for animals are three major themes of the poem. Although cats are considered coquettish and snobbish, this tomcat mentioned by the poet in this poem is specifically snobbish as well as wily. Not only he makes life hell for the owner, but also shows the cat’s devilish nature that he spews hatred preserved for ages. However, on the very next day, he starts purring that is flirting with the owner to provide him food and luxurious lodging. And interesting thing is, he continues with his howling and wailing during the night showing devilish nature.

Analysis of Poetic Devices Used in “The Tom Cat”

literary devices beautify the poetic or prose writings to make them worth reading. The analysis of these devices in the poem “The Tom Cat”  as given below shows this fact.

  1. Alliteration: It means to use consonant sounds in the initials of the two successive words such as the sound of /h/ in “his heart.”
  2. Assonance: Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the same line such as the sound of /i/ in “At midnight in the alley”, /e/ in “And he chants the hate of a million years” and the sound of /e/ in “When the blotched red moon leers over the roofs.”
  3. Consonance: Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line such as the sound of /b/ and /n/ in “Malevolent, bony, brindled”, /c/ and /r/ in “He twists and crouches and capers,” and the sound of s/ and /t/ in “And he sings to the stars of the jungle nights.”
  4. Enjambment: It is defined as a thought in verse that does not come to an end at a line break; rather, it rolls over to the next line. For example;

But at midnight in the alley
He will crouch again and wail,
And beat the time for his demon’s song
With the swing of his demon’s tail.

  1. Imagery: Imagery is used to make readers perceive things involving their five senses. The poem shows the use of imagery such as “He twists and crouches and capers”, “And bares his curved sharp claws” and “Beast from world primeval.”
  2. Metaphor: It is a figure of speech in which an implied comparison is made between the objects that are different. The poem shows the metaphor of a tomcat to show how capricious people could be sometimes. Some other metaphors include eyes made of coal and black-hard heart.
  3. Paradox: It means to show contradictory ideas together such as “he chats the hate”, or such as;

He will lie on a rug to-morrow
And lick his silky fur,
And veil the brute in his yellow eyes
And play he’s tame, and purr.

  1. Symbolism: Symbolism is using symbols to signify ideas and qualities, giving them symbolic meanings that are different from literal meanings. The poem shows the use of religious symbols such as the alley, tail, boy, devil, and tiger to show the malevolent nature of the cat.

Analysis of Poetic Devices Used in “The Tom Cat”

Poetic and literary devices are the same, but a few are used only in poetry. Here is the analysis of some of the poetic devices used in this poem.

  1. Diction and Tone: The poem shows the use of simple diction. Its tone, however, is satiric and funny.
  2. Rhyme Scheme: The poem shows ABCB in almost all the stanzas.
  3. Stanza: A stanza is a poetic form of some lines. There are total six stanzas with each having four verses.
  4. Quatrain: The poem shows the use of quatrain having four rhyming verses.

Quotes to be Used

These lines from “The Tom Cat” are relevant to use when referring to wild animals and asking others to avoid confronting them.

Beast from world primeval,
He and his leaping clan,
When the blotched red moon leers over the roofs,
Give voice to their scorn of man.