“Read the following poems by Thom Gunn (Apartment Cats) and Thomas Flatman (An Appeal to Cats in the Business of Love) in The Faber Book of Beasts (pp.5-6). In no more than 600 words, compare the way in which the two poets represent cats.”

The most striking comparisons between the two poems arrive in the imagery and sentiment of the final lines, with both poets deliberately leaving us to look on as their metaphorical moggies depart. Thom Gunn watches one cat stalk off in wise indifference, and the poets word choice, I feel, captures well the ambiguity of feline behaviour. To think of this cat stalking away does not denote a retreat in my mind, more a defiance with dignity intact. Although the rhyme used in An Appeal… emphasises the imagery being portrayed throughout, perhaps the most effective image of the poem comes when Flatmans cats Keep their feet, mount their tails, and away!…(short extract)