A Talk with Pussy

"Come, my puss, for talk and fun,
     While the frosty evening darkles
     How your thick fur snaps and sparkles!
All the better for your run."
          "Purr-r, purr-r,
Please, miss, don't tell Edison!"

"Pussy, what a set of furs! —
     Cloak and tippet, cap and mittens:
     Mother Nature's good to kittens:
Wish I were a pet of hers!"
          "Purr-r, purr-r,
Some go further and fare worse."

"What a useful tongue is here!
     Comb, and brush, and Turkish towel, 
     Spoon for milk, and butter-trowel,
All in one, and always near."
          "Purr-r, purr-r,
Let me lick your face, my dear."

"Saucy kit! my curls are fast:
     Ah, but I can change my dresses, 
     That is where my gain, I guess, is:
Both our lots are wisely cast."
          "Meow, meow !
Then we quite agree at last."

“Never mind now, puss; take care!
     With your sudden nips and twitches,
     Yesterday you dropped some stitches
In my mittens,—my first pair.”
               “Purr-r, purr-r,
I’ll go find them, miss, somewhere.”

“Did you think it just the thing,
     Pussy, when you had my thimble,
     Spools, and beeswax, all so nimble,
To pull down my curtain-string?
               “Purr-r, purr-r,
Missy, just you hear me sing!”

“Yes, puss, I admire your wit;
     It is sharper than your memory!
     Didn’t you let out all my emery
From its strawberry? Naughty kit!”
               “Purr-r purr-r,
Miss, it wasn’t good a bit.”

“With your furts on! I declare,
     Puss, ‘twas like a silly sloven
     To crawl under that hot over:
Don’t you like the open air?”
               “Meow, meow!
I’ve no pins in my back hair!