Classic Poem

A CAT , unus'd to miss her prey,
And plentifully sed each day,
Had oft with secret wishes ey'd
A pond, and plac'd her by its side.
And as the glitt'ring fish she view'd,
With longing eyes their course pursu'd:
But much to wet her feet she fears,
And on dry land long perseveres.
And when at first she dipp'd her paw,
Her form reflected there she saw:
Now dread, then anger fill'd her breast,
'Till all the shadow full confest
She saw; then by degrees grown bold,
She scorns the shadow, slights the cold;
And once, from out the smaller fry,
Watchful she snatch'd one swimming nigh.
Buoy'd up by this success to deem
Each trout her own that swims the stream,
She now resolves, for food so rare,
Constantly thither to repair.
And (self-denial quite unknown)
She vows to live on fish alone,
And oft the pond, tho' deep and wide,
Her rav'nous appetite supply'd.
But roving once upon a day,
Far from her own abode away,
She sought a rapid river's side,
And view'd the finny natives glide.
At one, most tempting to her eyes,
She aim'd, and stoop'd to seize the prize;
But as her paw she hasty dipp'd,
The ground gave way, and in she slipp'd.
In swimming now she tries her force,
While the strong tide still chang'd her course,
And to a mill resistless borne,
She meets her doom—in pieces torn.
Soon as she saw her certain fate,
She fore repented, but too late.