WRFH/Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM - Great Men Back Then: T.S. Eliot

Episode Date: April 23, 2024

T.S. Eliot wrote many serious poems, but he also loved cats. He even wrote about cats. Listen as we read one of Eliot's most beloved poems, "Macavity the Mystery Cat." 

You are listening to Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM. My name is Lauren Scott, and this is Great Men Back Then, the show where we talk about great people in American history. Today, we will be talking about a very well-known American poet, publisher, and author. His name, T.S. Eliot. Elliot was born in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1888. although he moved to England in 1914 when he was 25 years old to settle down there and find a job. By 1927, he became a British subject and actually renounced his American citizenship. Elliot started to gain attention whenever he published his poem,

The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, some of his most famous works also include the Wasteland published in 1922, The Hollow Men in 1925, Ash Wednesday in 1930, and four quartets in 1943. In the year of 1948, Elliot received the Nobel Prize in Literature, as well as the Order of Merit. Today, I wanted to highlight a less well-known poem of T.S. Eliot. Although he had many great works that are known around the world, he had a deep love for cats, and he wrote a few poems about cats. So today, I will be reading my favorite poem about cats by T.S. Eliot called McCavity the mystery cat. McCavity'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 of

Scotland Yard, the flying squads despair. For when they reach the scene of crime, Macavity's not there. Macavity, Macavity, there's no one like Macavity. He's broken every human law. He breaks the law of gravity. His powers of levitation would make a faker 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, Maccavity's not there. McCavity's a ginger cap. He's very tall and thin. You would know him if you saw him, where his eyes are sunken in him. His brow is deeply lined with thought. His head is highly domed. His coat is dusty from neglect. His whiskers 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. McCavity, McCavity, there's no one like McCavity. For he's a fiend and feline shit. a monster of depravity. You may meet him in a by-street, you may see him on the square, but when a crime's discovered, then McCavity's not there. He's outwardly respectable. They say he cheats at cards, and his footprints are not found in any file of Scotland yards. And when the larders looted, or the jewel case is rifled, or when the milk is missing, or another peak's been stifled, or the greenhouse glass is broken and the trellis past repair. Ah, there's the wonder of the thing. McCavity's not there. And when the foreign office find a treaties gone astray, or the Amarly lose some

plans and drawings by the way, there may be a scrap of paper in the hall or on the stair, but it's useless to investigate. McCavity's not there. And when the loss has been disclosed, the Secret Service say. It must have been Maccavity, but he's a mile away. You'll be sure to find him resting or a licking of his thumb or engaged in doing complicated long-division sums. Macavity, Macavity, there's no one like McCavony. There never was a cat of such deceitfulness and suavity. He always has an alibi or one or two despair. At whatever time the deed took place, Maccavity was not there. And they say, of all the cats whose wicked deeds are widely known. I might mention Mungo Jerry, I might mention griddlebone,

are nothing more than agents for the cat who all the time just controls their operations, the Napoleon of crime. Well, there you have it. That is McCavity the Mystery Cat by T.S. Eliot. Thank you for listening to Great Men Back Then. I'm Lauren Scott on Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM. Thank you.