To go outside, Or to remain within:
\nThat is the question;
\nWhether ’tis better for a cat to suffer
\nThe cuffs and buffets of inclement weather
\nThat Nature rains on those who roam abroad,
\nOr take a nap upon a scrap of carpet,
\nAnd by so dozing melt the solid hours
\nThat clog the clock’s bright gears with sullen time
\nand stall the dinner bell.
\nTo sit, to stare
\nOutdoors, and by a stare to seem to state
\nA wish to venture forth without delay,
\nThen when the portal’s opened up, to stand
\nAs if transformed by doubt.
\nTo prowl; to sleep;
\nTo choose not knowing when we may once more
\nOur readmittance gain: aye, there’s the hairball;
\nFor if paw were shaped to turn a knob,
\nOr work a lock or slip a window-catch,
\nAnd going out and coming in were made
\nas simple as the breaking of a bowl,
\nWhat cat would bear the household’s petty plagues
\nThe cook’s well-practiced kicks, the butler’s broom,
\nThe infant’s careless pokes, the tickled ears,
\nThe trampled tail, and all the daily shocks
\nThat fur is heir to, when, of his own free will,
\nHe might his exodus or entrance make
\nWith a mere mitten?
\nWho would spaniels fear,
\nOr strays trespassing from a neighbor’s yard,
\nBut that the dread of our unheeded cries
\nAnd scratches at a barricaded door
\nNo claw can open up, dispels our nerve
\nAnd makes us rather bear our humans’ faults
\nThan run away to unguessed miseries?
\nThus caution doth make house cats of us all;
\nAnd thus the bristling hair of resolution
\nIs softened up with the pale
\nbrush of thought,
\nAnd since our choices hinge on weighty things,
\nWe pause on the threshold of decision. <\/p>\n
~Shakespaw~<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
To go outside, Or to remain within: That is the question; Whether ’tis better for a cat to suffer The cuffs and buffets of inclement weather That Nature rains on those who roam abroad, Or take a nap upon a scrap of carpet, And by so dozing melt the solid hours That clog the clock’s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[322,1172,1335],"class_list":["post-446","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cats","tag-cat","tag-poetry","tag-soliloquy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.joke-archives.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/446","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.joke-archives.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.joke-archives.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.joke-archives.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.joke-archives.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=446"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.joke-archives.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/446\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.joke-archives.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=446"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.joke-archives.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=446"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.joke-archives.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=446"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}