=THE CAT 



Atossa 



Thou hast seen Atossa sage 



Sit for hours beside thy cage; 



Thou wouldst chirp, thou foolish bird, 



Flutter, chirp, — she never stirred ! 



What were now these toys to her? 



Down she sank amid her fur; 



Eyed thee with a soul resign'd, 



And thou deemedst cats were kind! 



Cruel, but composed and bland, 



Dumb, inscrutable, and grand; 



So Tiberius might have sat, 



Had Tiberius been a cat. 



Poor Matthias, Matthew Arnold. 



84 



