CAT AND MOUSE
On the sheep-cropped summit, under hot sun, *coined phrase
The mouse crouched, staring out the chance *assonance
It dared not take.
Time and a world
Too old to alter, the five mile prospect― * dual meaning;view/chance
Woods, villages, farms—hummed its heat-heavy * asyndetic listing
Stupor of life.
Whether to two
Feet or four, how are prayers contracted! * dual meaning; made
Whether in God’s eye or the eye of a cat. smaller/governed by
By Ted Hughes
The opening lines set the scene and the reference to the “sheep-cropped
summit” subtly introduces the theme that the natural world is governed by
instinct not reason; it is the same instinct that drives the sheep to eat the
grass as drives the cat to eat the mouse. Ted Hughes is depicting the natural
order of things.
In this poem a mouse hopes to make a break for freedom but does not as it
fears being eaten by a cat. The inference is that this is a predicament of life;
we are frozen into inaction b fear of the ‘what ifs’ in life.
The assonance in the line “The mouse crouched, staring out…” draws our
attention to the predicament that the mouse is in. The line “It dared not take”
is end-stopped which conveys the notion that the mouse is not going to
change its mind; it has made a definite decision – there is not even a pause
for thought evidenced by a coma or a semi-colon. The poem is however a
comment on the cycle of life; it is the natural order of things. The cat is
predatory and the mouse is its prey.
On the sheep-cropped summit, under hot sun, *coined phrase
The mouse crouched, staring out the chance *assonance
It dared not take.
Time and a world
Too old to alter, the five mile prospect― * dual meaning;view/chance
Woods, villages, farms—hummed its heat-heavy * asyndetic listing
Stupor of life.
Whether to two
Feet or four, how are prayers contracted! * dual meaning; made
Whether in God’s eye or the eye of a cat. smaller/governed by
By Ted Hughes
The opening lines set the scene and the reference to the “sheep-cropped
summit” subtly introduces the theme that the natural world is governed by
instinct not reason; it is the same instinct that drives the sheep to eat the
grass as drives the cat to eat the mouse. Ted Hughes is depicting the natural
order of things.
In this poem a mouse hopes to make a break for freedom but does not as it
fears being eaten by a cat. The inference is that this is a predicament of life;
we are frozen into inaction b fear of the ‘what ifs’ in life.
The assonance in the line “The mouse crouched, staring out…” draws our
attention to the predicament that the mouse is in. The line “It dared not take”
is end-stopped which conveys the notion that the mouse is not going to
change its mind; it has made a definite decision – there is not even a pause
for thought evidenced by a coma or a semi-colon. The poem is however a
comment on the cycle of life; it is the natural order of things. The cat is
predatory and the mouse is its prey.
