Pangur Ban
‘I and Pangur Ban my cat
‘Tis a like task we are at:
Hunting mice is his delight
Hunting words I sit all night
Better far than praise of men
‘Tis to sit with book and pen;
Pangur bears me no ill will,
He too plies his simple skill.
‘Tis a merry thing to see
At our tasks how glad are we
When at home we sit and find
Entertainment to the mind.
Oftentimes a mouse will stray
In the hero Pangur’s way;
Oftentimes my keen thoughts set
Takes a meaning in its net.
‘Gainst the wall he sets his eye
Full and fierce and sharp and sly;
‘Gainst the wall of knowledge I
All my little wisdom try.
When a mouse darts from its den
O how glad is Pangur then!
O what gladness do I prove
When I solve the doubts I love.
So in peace our tasks we ply
Pangur Ban, my cat, and I:
In our arts we find our bliss
I have mine and he has his.
Practice every day has made
Pangur perfect in his trade
I get wisdom day and night
Turning darkness into light.’
translated from a ninth century Irish poem