The Naming of Cats is a poem in T. S. Eliot's 1939 poetry book ''

Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats ''Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats'' (1939) is a collection of whimsical Light poetry, light poems by T. S. Eliot about Cat, feline psychology and sociology, published by Faber and Faber. It serves as the basis for Andrew Lloyd Webber's 1981 ...

''. It was adapted into a musical number in

Andrew Lloyd Webber Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber (born 22 March 1948) is an English composer and impresario of musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End theatre, West End and on Broadway theatre, Broad ...

's 1981 musical ''

Cats The cat (''Felis catus''), also referred to as the domestic cat or house cat, is a small domesticated carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species of the family Felidae. Advances in archaeology and genetics have shown that the ...

'', and has also been quoted in other films, notably '' Logan's Run'' (1976). The poem describes to humans how cats get their names.

Poem

The poem uses a short rhythmic dialogue to describe how cats get or choose their names. It states that "a cat must have THREE DIFFERENT NAMES"; specifically, one that is "familiar", one that is "particular", and one that is "secretive". English professor Dorothy Dodge Robbins noted that the many examples of feline names given in the poem by the

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

-born poet were heavily influenced by his love and adoption of British culture: "After all, his are the monikers of distinctly

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

cats; they are not the practical names of

Midwestern The Midwestern United States (also referred to as the Midwest, the Heartland or the American Midwest) is one of the four census regions defined by the United States Census Bureau. It occupies the northern central part of the United States. It ...

barn cats." Familial names are typically common human names that the cat's "family use daily". Examples given include "Victor or Jonathan, George or Bill Bailey," the last of which was derived from the 1902 song " Won't You Come Home Bill Bailey". The poem also suggests "fancier" familial names derived from ancient and mythological figures such as "Plato, Admetus, Electra, and Demeter." Particular names are said to be "peculiar" yet "dignified", and Eliot's examples include the invented names of "Munkustrap, Quaxo, Coricopat, Bombalurina, and Jellylorum." Robbins speculates that the name "Coricopat" was derived as a linguistic variation of the "

Calico Cat A calico cat is a domestic cat of any breed with a tri-color coat. The calico cat is most commonly thought of as being 25% to 75% white with large orange and black patches; however, they may have other colors in their patterns. Calico cats are a ...

" from Eugene Field's poem " The Duel". On the "ineffable" secretive names of cats, Eliot declares that "no human research can discover" them for "THE CAT HIMSELF KNOWS, and will never confess."

''Cats''

In ''

'', "The Naming of Cats" is the second song of the musical. It is entirely spoken and presented as a slow, eerie

chant A chant (from French ', from Latin ', "to sing") is the iterative speaking or singing of words or sounds, often primarily on one or two main pitches called reciting tones. Chants may range from a simple melody involving a limited set of no ...

which breaks the

fourth wall The fourth wall is a performance dramatic convention, convention in which an invisible, imaginary wall separates actors from the audience. While the audience can see through this "wall", the convention assumes the actors act as if they cannot. ...

, acknowledging the audience and explaining to them how cats are given their names. While it is delivered by the cast in unison, whispered in natural rhythmic dialogue, the chant never follows a singsong style as the voices are spoken at different pitches and varying inflections. As the number is performed, cast members venture out into the audience before retreating backstage as the song transitions to Victoria's dance solo. The music is a fragmented and dissonant variation of a theme introduced in the

overture Overture (from French ''ouverture'', "opening") is a music instrumental introduction to a ballet, opera, or oratorio in the 17th century. During the early Romantic era, composers such as Beethoven and Mendelssohn composed overtures which ...

. It has no constant

key signature In Western musical notation, a key signature is a set of sharp (), flat (), or rarely, natural () symbols placed on the staff at the beginning of a section of music. The initial key signature in a piece is placed immediately after the cl ...

harmonic structure In music, harmony is the concept of combining different sounds in order to create new, distinct musical ideas. Theories of harmony seek to describe or explain the effects created by distinct pitches or tones coinciding with one another; harm ...

. Many of the characters' names are taken from the poem, including Bombalurina, Demeter, and Munkustrap.

In other media

In the 1976 movie '' Logan's Run'',

Peter Ustinov Sir Peter Alexander Ustinov (16 April 192128 March 2004) was a British actor, director and writer. An internationally known raconteur, he was a fixture on television talk shows and lecture circuits for much of his career. Ustinov received #Awa ...

's character recites a shortened version of the poem. Sped-up parts of Eliot's recording of the poem were used in various Shining Time Station Season 1 episodes as phone voices, including "And The Band Played Off".

Poem

''Cats''

In other media

References

Further reading