To Cat Peter by Ruth Collie (1927)
"To Cat Peter" is a light, comic verse by Ruth Collie in which the speaker addresses her own cat, Peter, directly, in a tone of mock indignation. The poem opens with the narrator declaring her intention to finally speak "flat" and honestly about the entire species of cats, launching into a wry survey of the reverence humans have historically bestowed upon felines: cats favored by popes, worshipped as sacred in ancient Egypt, and pampered by kings and queens throughout history. Against this backdrop of grand feline privilege, the speaker turns pointedly to Peter himself, noting with exasperation that he is merely "an orphan, common little stray" who nonetheless accepts all the adoration lavished upon him as though it were his natural birthright. The heart of the poem is the speaker's catalogue of complaints against Peter's aloof, self-serving behavior, framed as a rhetorical question: what does he actually do to earn this devotion? She observes that he shows no concern for the comings and goings of the household, remaining indifferent to when family members leave or return. When she comes home at night expecting some sign of welcome, he offers nothing more than an unbothered blink, utterly unmoved by her presence. Instead, his priorities are entirely his own: he saunters into the kitchen to drink his milk, meticulously grooms his paws until they gleam "like silk," and finds a sunny windowsill in which to bask. When boredom strikes, he leaps up to a high shelf, and from that lofty perch looks down with what the speaker reads as outright scorn upon the very people who have loved and served him unconditionally since his birth. The comic tension of the piece lies in the gap between the speaker's professed disgust and the evident affection underlying her complaint; the poem's humor comes from an owner who claims to be fed up with her cat's imperious indifference while clearly remaining devoted to him regardless. Collie uses the mock-scolding, direct-address form—speaking to "Peter" as if he could understand and be shamed by the accusation—to poke fun at the universal experience of cat ownership: the pet who receives boundless love and gives back only cool, self-possessed detachment, and yet is somehow still adored. The invocation of historical and religious grandeur (popes, Egyptian gods, royalty) elevates the joke, framing Peter's everyday household smugness as part of a long, absurd lineage of unearned feline entitlement. The piece functions as a gently satirical character sketch of the archetypal cat—independent, ungrateful in appearance, comfortable in its superiority—rendered through the affectionate exasperation of the human who serves it.
By Ruth Collie · First published 1927 · Genre: Poetry, Humorous Poetry, Satire · 235 words
First lines
My Peter! It is time I told you flat, just what I think of species / known as cat. Throughout the centuries, from earliest days, mere / human-beings have sung loud your praise. Beloved of popes the cat / has often been; sacred in Egypt; petted by king or queen. And you, / you orphan, common little stray, accept the homage that we weakly pay / as if it were your just and proper due. I am disgusted, quite / annoyed with you. What do you do for us, I'd like to know? You care / not when or where we come or go. You show no joy when we return at / night, but blink your eyes, and are indifferent, quite. You stalk / into the kitchen, drink your milk, then lick your paws until they / shine like silk; sit in a sunny window, catch a fly; then, feeling / bored, leap to a shelf on high, and from this prominence you view / with scorn -- those who have served with love since you were born!
Genres
- Poetry — The work is composed in structured verse with rhyming couplets, establishing it fundamentally as a poem rather than prose.
- Humorous Poetry — The speaker employs irony and playful mockery to express feigned exasperation at the cat's indifference, creating an entertaining and lighthearted tone.
- Satire — The poem satirizes humanity's excessive historical and cultural reverence for cats by juxtaposing it with their actual aloofness and self-centered behavior.
- Animal Poetry — A cat serves as the central subject, with the work focused on feline behaviors and characteristics observed through the lens of domestic pet ownership.
Tags
children's literature · picture book · animal story · cats · pets · friendship · family · gentle humor · everyday life · childhood · illustrated book · early readers
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To Cat Peter is listed on Textopian as a poem by Ruth Collie, dated 1927 CE.
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- Work type: Poem
- Author: Ruth Collie
- Date: 1927 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Poetry, Humorous Poetry, Satire, Animal Poetry, Light Verse
- Length: 235 words
- Structure: 1 section, 1 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Easy (6th Grade)
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