Poetry Thursday - The Cat of Cats by William Brighty Rands

The Cat of Cats

I am the cat of cats. I am
The everlasting cat!
Cunning, and old, and sleek as jam,
The everlasting cat!
I hunt vermin in the night-
The everlasting cat!
For I see best without the light-
The everlasting cat! 

William Brighty Rands

A jolly short poem (encountered here) by an author with a jolly irresistible name. His dates are 1823-1882. Mostly self-taught, William Brighty Rands worked as a reporter in the House of Commons, wrote several volumes of children's literature anonymously, and published under various pseudonyms, including T. Talker.

The (two-tailed?) cat in the 18th-century woodcut is said to be a sort of portrait of Peter the Great.