You Know How a CatWill Bring a mouse it hascaught and lay it at yourfeet so each morning Ibring you a poem thatI've written when I wokeup in the night as my tributeto your beauty &a promise of my love. -James LaughlinAcross the ages, cats have provided their adopted humans with companionship, affection, mystery, and innumerable metaphors. Cats raise a mirror up to their beholders; cats endlessly captivate and hypnotise, frustrate and delight.

To poets, in particular, these enigmatic creatures are the most delightful and beguiling of muses, as they purr, prowl, hunt, play, meow, and nap, often oblivious to their so-called masters. Cat Poems offers a litter of odes to our beloved felines by some of the greatest poets of all time.