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Shvoong Home>Books>Poetry>Abstract of “Macavity: The Mystery Cat” by T. S. Eliot Review

Abstract of “Macavity: The Mystery Cat” by T. S. Eliot

Book Review   by:akso6o175     Original Author: Andy Kester Sawian
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Macavity's a Mystery Cat: he's called the Hidden Paw--For he's the master criminal who can defy the Law. He's the bafflement; totally bewilder: restrain or regulate (a fluid, a sound, etc.): mock, deceive; of Scotland Yard, the Flying Squad's despair; the complete loss or absence of hope: lose or be without hope: be the cause of despair in (someone else). For when they reach the scene of crime--Macavity's not there! Macavity, Macavity, there's no on like Macavity, He's broken every human law, he breaks the law of gravity. His powers of levitation; rise or cause to rise and hover in the air; would make a fakir; a Muslim (or, loosely, a Hindu) religious ascetic who lives solely on alms; stare, and when you reach the scene of crime--Macavity's not there! You may seek him in the basement, you may look up in the air--But I tell you once and once again, Macavity's not there!
Macavity's a ginger cat, he's very tall and thin; One would know him if they saw him, for his eyes are sunken in. His brow is deeply lined with thought; his head is highly doomed; His coat is dusty from neglect, his whiskers; a long projecting hair or bristle growing from the face or snout of an animal such as a cat.  (whiskers) the hair growing on a man’s face, especially on his cheeks: are uncombed. He sways his head from side to side, with movements like a snake; and when you think he's half asleep, he's always wide awake.
Macavity, Macavity, there's no one like Macavity. For he's a fiend; an evil spirit or demon.  A very wicked or cruel person: ‘an enemy, the devil’; in feline: of, relating to, or resembling a cat: a cat or other animal of the cat family: shape, a monster of depravity; lead away from what is natural or right; corrupt: in the sense ‘pervert in meaning or intention’: ‘crooked, perverse’. One may meet him in a by-street; you may see him in the square--But when a crime's discovered, then Macavity's not there! He's outwardly respectable; a deceiving personality; (They say he cheats at cards.) and his footprints are not found in any file of Scotland Yard's and when the larders; a room or large cupboard for storing food: is looted, or the jewel-case is rifled; hit or kick hard and straight: Or when the milk is missing, or another Peke's been stifled; prevent from breathing freely; suffocate: smother or suppress: prevent or constrain (an activity or idea): ‘smother, stifle’; Or the greenhouse glass is broken, and the trellis; a framework of light wooden or metal bars used as a support for trees or creepers: provide or support with a trellis; past repair--Ay, there's the wonder of the thing! Macavity's not there!
And when the Foreign Office finds a Treaty's gone astray; away from the correct path or direction: become lost or mislaid; or the Admiralty; (in the UK) the government department that formerly administered the Royal Navy, now used only in titles: Law the jurisdiction of courts of law over cases concerning ships or the sea; lose some plans and drawings by the way, There may be a scap; shred; of paper in the hall or on the stair--But it's useless of investigate; carry out a systematic or formal inquiry into (an incident or allegation) so as to establish the truth.  carry out research into (a subject).  make a search or systematic inquiry.--Macavity's not there! And when the loss has been disclosed, the Secret Service says: "It must have been Macavity!"--but he's a mile away. You'll be sure to find him resting, or a-licking of his thumbs, or engaged in doing complicated long division sums. Macavity, Macavity, there's no one like Macavity. There never was a Cat of such deceitfulness; acting to deceive others; and suavity: (of a man) charming, confident, and elegant. He always has an alibi; a claim or piece of evidence that one was elsewhere when an alleged act took place.  Informal an excuse: informal provide an alibi for; or one or two to spare: And whatever time the deed took place--MACAVITY WASN'T THERE! And they say that all the Cats whose wicked deeds are widely known; (Eliot might mention Mungojerrie and Griddlebone); names of criminals; Are nothing more than agents for the Cat who all the time Just controls their operations; the action or process of operating: a concerted action involving a number of people, especially members of the armed forces or the police: a business organization; a company; the Napoleon of Crime!

Published: August 13, 2010   
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  1. Answer   Question  :    are mungojerrie and griddlebone as mentioned in the poem real criminals View All
  1. Answer   Question  :    did T S Elliot write the poem about Macavity because he knew a cat like it View All
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