Jane Taylor’s Poem about a Pussy-cat is about How Kids Should Treat Pets
The poem below by Jane Taylor (1783-1824) is about a child telling how gently she will handle her little pussy-cat. The 1st two verses can be found in many collections of nursery rhymes. If you read the whole poem, you can see how it could be a good one to read to children with pets… talking about how to treat them nicely.
Little Pussy
By Jane TaylorI love little Pussy,
Her coat is so warm;
And if I don’t hurt her
She’ll do me no harm.So I’ll not pull her tail,
Nor drive her away,
But Pussy and I
Very gently will play.She shall sit by my side,
And I’ll give her some food;
And she’ll love me because
I am gentle and good.I’ll pat little Pussy,
And then she will purr,
And thus show her thanks
For my kindness to her.I’ll not pinch her ears,
Nor tread on her paw,
Lest I should provoke her
To use her sharp claw.I never will vex her,
Nor make her displeased,
For Puss doesn’t like
To be worried or teased.
August 24th, 2009 at 7:09 pm
This is the perfect poem for me to read to my two boys tomorrow as we have just got a new kitten and puppy. I know that I’ve read it recently in one of our poetry books but couldn’t find it again, so thank you. I did get out my Opie edition of the Oxford Book of Children’s Verse ( as opposed to the very new edition that I haven’t seen yet…), and have had a lovely time re-reading Jane Taylor’s poems and her sister, Ann’s – though, interestingly, Little Pussy wasn’t included. I love the illustration you have for it here too.
September 1st, 2009 at 9:24 am
What a poem! Can’t wait to tell Atthaya, my little niece, about this lovely old poem. We both love animals, and we both owned by cats.
I also love the illustration. If I’m not mistaken the illustrator is Henriette Willebeek Le Mair (1889-1966).