Page 45 - 100 Best Loved Poems - Teaching Unit

“Ode on the Death of a Favourite Cat, Drowned in a Tub of Gold Fishes”
by Thomas Gray, pages 23-24

Vocabulary
azure – blue
demurest – shyest, most reserved
pensive – thoughtful
vies – wagers
tyrian – purple
presumptuous – assumptive
malignant – evil, harmful

1. To what does the speaker compare a lake?

The speaker creates a metaphor at the conclusion of the first stanza, referring to the tub of
goldfish as “the lake below.”

2. What does the cat look like? What was its name?

The cat has a round face, white beard, velvet paws, a tortoise-shell colored coat, black
ears, and emerald eyes. The cat’s name was Selina.

3. Who or what is the “Presumptuous Maid” of the poem’s fifth stanza?

The cat is referred to as the “Presumptuous Maid” by the speaker for her naïveté in
thinking she could capture the fish in the tub.

4. Who are Tom and Susan?

Tom and Susan are most likely the cat’s owners.

5. What poetic device is exemplified by the phrases “heedless hearts” and “glisters, gold”?

The repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words is known as alliteration.

6. At first, Gray makes the reader believe that this poem is simply about the death of a cat.
The last stanza, however, proves otherwise. How does the last stanza change the purpose of
this poem?

In the last stanza, Gray warns the reader that “…one false step is ne’er retreiv’d” and that
“nor all, that glisters, gold.” His poem becomes not just a story, but a story with a lesson:
live a life ruled by caution, and remain aware of the temptations that exist in it.

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