English poem
The Tragic Mice
by Oliver Herford (1863–1935)
It was a tragic little mouse All bent on suicide Because another little mouse Refused to be his bride.
“Alas!” he squeaked, “I shall not wed! My heart and paw she spurns; I’ll hie me to the cat instead, From whence no mouse returns!”
The playful cat met him half way, Said she, “I feel for you, You’re dying for a mouse, you say, I’m dying for one, too!”
Now when Miss Mouse beheld his doom, Struck with remorse, she cried, “In death we’ll meet!--O cat! make room For one more mouse inside.”
The playful cat was charmed; said she, “I shall be, in a sense, Your pussy catafalque!” Ah me! It was her last offence!
* * * * *
Reader, take warning from this tale, And shun the punster’s trick: Those mice, for fear lest cats might fail, Had eaten arsenic!