Poetry · Chapter
Revenge explained
A spitcat and a snapdog confront each other in a darkly comic poem.
What happens
A spitcat and a snapdog confront each other in a darkly comic poem. The cat accuses the dog of stealing a kitten's catgut string (the note 'E') for his fiddle, and her vengeful shriek is so powerful it cracks tombs and sends missiles flying. The dog is left blind, wearing a placard that declares his condition.
Themes in this chapter
Justice and Revenge
The cat's retaliation for the theft of the kitten's string escalates into a violent, almost cosmic revenge, leaving the dog permanently blind.
Art and Criticism
The dog's use of a stolen catgut string for his fiddle raises questions about the ethics of artistic creation and the materials it appropriates.
Characters to notice
Key passages
“A spitcat sate on a garden gate And a snapdog fared beneath; Careless and free was his mien, and he Held a fiddle-string in his teeth.”
A cat sat on a gate while a dog walked below, looking carefree and holding a fiddle-string in his mouth.
Introduces the two main characters and the object of contention.
“But that dog has trifled with art and rifled A kitten of mine, ah me! That catgut slim was marauded from him: ’Tis the string that men call E.”
The cat accuses the dog of stealing a kitten's catgut string, which musicians call the note E.
Reveals the motive for revenge: the theft of a kitten's gut for artistic use.
“Then she sounded high, in the key of Y, A note that cracked the tombs; And the missiles through the firmament flew From adjacent sleeping-rooms.”
She shrieked so loudly in the key of Y that it cracked graves and sent objects flying from nearby bedrooms.
Describes the destructive power of the cat's vengeful cry.
“And that snapdog wears a placard that bears The inscription: 'Blind from birth.'”
The dog now wears a sign that says he was born blind.
The ironic outcome: the dog is permanently blinded, and the placard falsely claims it was congenital.