chant royal of the scholar and his cat

[fledgist]

in hidden corner there's a place for sleep

you know it well and will come out to play

in your good time meanwhile you'll let me keep

my larger vigils on this cloudy day

seeking the wisdoms of a time of pain

with half an eye cocked for the coming rain

and senses focused on approaching night

(we know it's coming though the day is bright)

hands put together purpose that is kind

while every heart is poised for instant flight

into the bright dominion of the mind

 

the lives of people never seem so deep

as feline hungers in their simple way

you are the wanderers and we the sheep

our normal tasks will seem to your delay

from urgent hunger and there is no gain

from what we're doing that seems to you plain

it does not come within your line of sight

provides you nothing of your household right

the sort of thing that is best left behind

lest it should bring a darkness or a blight

into the bright dominion of the mind

 

your eye is focused on the things that creep

across the yard that you would wish to slay

we know this and for fortune will not weep

but wonder at the words you'd like to say

if speech were given and you could complain

at being bound in by such a golden chain

as if we punished your for our delight

and thought your chiding visions could indict

our cruelty in keeping you confined

but see you move with happy summer light

into the bright dominion of the mind

 

prince you might think this subject impolite

and such debate is not the best to cite

yet we must take the pathways that we find

from your dark rule of chaos and old night

into the bright dominion of the mind