Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats is a collection of whimsical poems by
T. S. EliotThomas Stearns "T. S." Eliot OM was a playwright, literary critic, and arguably the most important English-language poet of the 20th century. Although he was born an American he moved to the United Kingdom in 1914 and was naturalised as a British subject in 1927 at age 39.The poem that made his...
about
felineThe cat , also known as the domestic cat or housecat to distinguish it from other felids and felines, is a small, usually furry, domesticated, carnivorous mammal that is valued by humans for its companionship and for its ability to hunt vermin and household pests...
psychologyPsychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...
and
sociologySociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...
, published by
Faber and FaberFaber and Faber Limited, often abbreviated to Faber, is an independent publishing house in the UK, notable in particular for publishing a great deal of poetry and for its former editor T. S. Eliot. Faber has a rich tradition of publishing a wide range of fiction, non fiction, drama, film and music...
. It is the basis for the record-setting
musicalMusical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
CatsCats is a musical composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T. S. Eliot...
.
The poems were written during the 1930s and included by Eliot, under his assumed name "Old Possum," in letters to his godchildren. They were collected and published in 1939 with cover illustrations by the author, and quickly re-published in 1940, illustrated in full by
Nicolas BentleyNicolas Clerihew Bentley was a British author and illustrator famous for his humorous cartoon drawings in books and magazines in the 1930s and 1940s...
. It has also been published in reillustrated versions by
Edward GoreyEdward St. John Gorey was an American writer and artist noted for his macabre illustrated books.-Early life:...
(1982) and
Axel SchefflerAxel Scheffler is a book illustrator best known for his cartoon-like pictures for children's books, particularly The Gruffalo and The Gruffalo's Child written by Julia Donaldson.-Life and career:...
(2009).
Contents
The contents of
Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats, along with the name of the featured cat when appropriate, are:
- The Naming of Cats
- The Old Gumbie Cat (Jennyanydots
Jennyanydots is a fictional character in the musical play Cats. She is an old Gumbie cat who teaches the mice music, crocheting and tatting. During the day, the family thinks she is lazy because she sits around doing nothing Jennyanydots is a fictional character in the musical play Cats. She is an...
)
- Growltiger's Last Stand
- The Rum Tum Tugger
Rum Tum Tugger is one of the many feline characters in the poetry book Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T. S. Eliot, published in 1939, and in the musical Cats which was based on Eliot's book....
- The Song of the Jellicle
The Jellicle cats, or simply the Jellicles, are a type of feline mentioned in T. S. Eliot's Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats.Introduced in his poem Song of the Jellicles, they were originally depicted by Eliot as common black-and-white cats whose daytime nature is peaceful, pleasant and restful...
s
- Mungojerrie
Mungojerrie is a fictional character in T. S. Eliot's book, Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats which was adapted into the musical Cats.-Characteristics:Mungojerrie and his partner in crime, Rumpelteazer, specialize in petty theft and mischief...
and RumpelteazerRumpleteazer is a character in T. S. Eliot's book Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats and Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical Cats.-The Poem:...
- Old Deuteronomy
Old Deuteronomy is a character in T. S. Eliot's Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats and its musical adaptation, Cats.In Eliot's original poem, Old Deuteronomy is described as an ancient, wise cat who has "lived many lives in succession" and is respected by the other cats and humans in his...
- Of The Awefull Battle Of The Pekes And The Pollicles Together With Some Account Of The Participation Of the Pugs and the Poms, And The Intervention Of The Great Rumpuscat
The Great Rumpuscat is a character in T. S. Eliot's book Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats. The Great Rumpuscat is the protagonist of the poem "Of The Awefull Battle Of The Pekes And The Pollicles Together With Some Account Of The Participation Of the Pugs and the Poms, And The Intervention Of...
- Mr. Mistoffelees
Mr. Mistoffelees is a character in T. S. Eliot's poetry book Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats and its stage adaptation, Andrew Lloyd Webber's popular musical Cats. He is an important primary character, and one of the most popular of the show...
- Macavity
Macavity is a fictional character who is described in a poem in Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats, by T. S. Eliot. He also appears in Cats, the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical.-In the poem:...
: The Mystery Cat
- Gus: The Theatre Cat
"Gus: The Theatre Cat" is a poem by T. S. Eliot included in Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats. Known as "The Theatre Cat" due to his career as an actor, Gus is an old and frail, yet revered, cat, who "suffers from palsy, which makes his paws shake." His coat is described as "shabby" and he is...
- Bustopher Jones
"Bustopher Jones: The Cat About Town" is a poem from T. S. Eliot's Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats and a song from the Cats musical which is based on that poem....
: The Cat about Town
- Skimbleshanks
Skimbleshanks is a cat character in T. S. Eliot's book of poetry Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats and in Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical Cats....
: The Railway Cat
- The Ad-dressing of Cats
- Cat Morgan
Cat Morgan is one of the cats in Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T. S. Eliot. He claims to have sailed the Barbary Coast as a pirate, but is now retired and works as a doorman at the book publishers Faber and Faber. He is a gruff but likeable character. Some might notice that if the letter...
Introduces Himself (added in the 1952 edition)
Adaptations
In 1954 the English composer
Alan RawsthorneAlan Rawsthorne was a British composer. He was born in Haslingden, Lancashire, and is buried in Thaxted churchyard in Essex.-Career:...
set six of the poems in a work for speaker and orchestra entitled
Practical Cats, which was recorded soon after, with the actor
Robert DonatRobert Donat was an English film and stage actor. He is best-known for his roles in Alfred Hitchcock's The 39 Steps and Goodbye, Mr...
as the speaker. At about the same time period another English composer,
Humphrey SearleHumphrey Searle was a British composer.-Biography:He was born in Oxford where he was a classics scholar before studying — somewhat hesitantly — with John Ireland at the Royal College of Music in London, after which he went to Vienna on a six month scholarship to become a private pupil of Anton...
, composed another narrator piece based on the poems, using the flute, piccolo, cello and guitar. This work, Two Practical Cats, consisted of settings of the poems of Macavity and Growltiger.
Probably the best-known musical adaptation of the poems is the
Andrew Lloyd WebberAndrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber is an English composer of musical theatre.Lloyd Webber has achieved great popular success in musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 13 musicals, a song cycle, a set of...
musical
CatsCats is a musical composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T. S. Eliot...
. This musical premiered in London's West End in 1981 and on Broadway in 1982, and went on to become the longest-running Broadway show in history, until it was beaten by another Andrew Lloyd Webber show,
The Phantom of the OperaThe Phantom of the Opera is a musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on the French novel Le Fantôme de l'Opéra by Gaston Leroux.The music was composed by Lloyd Webber, and most lyrics were written by Charles Hart, with additional lyrics by Richard Stilgoe. Alan Jay Lerner was an early collaborator,...
.
As well as the poems in this volume, the musical introduces several additional characters from Eliot's unpublished drafts—most notably
GrizabellaGrizabella is the "Glamour Cat" in the musical production Cats. She does not appear in T. S. Eliot's work Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats, but she is a prominent character in the stageplay. It appears that she is the feline version of the woman mentioned in T.S...
.
Cultural references
In the film
Logan's RunLogan's Run is a 1976 science fiction film based on the novel of the same name by William F. Nolan and George Clayton Johnson. It depicts a dystopian future society in which population and the consumption of resources are managed and maintained in equilibrium by the simple expediency of killing...
Logan and Jessica meet an old man in the
Senate ChamberThe United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
during their search for Sanctuary. The Old Man has many cats and refers to
The Naming of Cats, explaining that each cat has three names: one common, one fancy, and one that only the cat knows. Later, the Old Man refers to one cat in particular. This cat is called "Gus," short for
Asparagus.
Comparable work
On June 5, 2009,
The TimesThe Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
revealed that in 1937 Eliot had composed a 34-line poem entitled "Cows" for the children of Frank Morley, a friend and a fellow director of the publishing company. Morley's daughter, Susanna Smithson, uncovered the poem as part of the
BBC TwoBBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more 'highbrow' programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio...
's "Arena: T.S. Eliot" broadcast that night as part of the BBC Poetry Season.
External links
T.S. Eliot
Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats