Poetry Review – T S Eliot – Macavity The Mystery Cat

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One of Eliot’s lovely Cat poems, used in the long running musical Cats. Macavity represents the household pet cat who manages to move and disturb ornaments, and break a few things in the house, but somehow manages to be nowhere near the scene of the incident by the time you discover the situation. Many cat owners will know the sound of a falling vase, or a suddenly vanished slice of meat from a plate. They’ll know the cat had everything to do with the incident, but the cat will be found sitting in another room, looking oblivious to what must have occurred, and as innocent of blame as anyone genuinely harassed for crimes they have never committed. Eliot’s poem exaggerates this cat-trait to see Macavity as a major jewel thief, sought by international police, who somehow manages to hide himself away so you can never locate him. Macavity is a ginger cat, who can pretend to be asleep while taking in everything around him. He is the Moriarty of the cat world, a criminal genius we see in virtually any domestic cat, but more so in some than others. Arthur Chappell