In Ted Hughes's "Cat and Mouse," a mouse hopes to make a break for freedom but doesn't, for fear of being eaten by a cat. That predicament, the poem suggests, isn't just the mouse's: every living creature, human beings included, is governed by the ancient, primal forces of instinct and violence. Hughes first published this poem in his second poetry collection, Lupercal (1960).
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The Full Text of “Cat and Mouse”
The Full Text of “Cat and Mouse”
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“Cat and Mouse” Summary
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“Cat and Mouse” Themes
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Nature, Power, and Death
Where this theme appears in the poem:- Lines 1-10
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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Cat and Mouse”
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Lines 1-3
On the sheep-cropped ...
... dared not take. -
Lines 4-5
...
... five mile prospect— -
Lines 6-7
Woods, villages, farms—hummed ...
... Stupor of life. -
Lines 8-10
...
... of a cat.
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“Cat and Mouse” Symbols
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The Mouse
Where this symbol appears in the poem:- Lines 1-3: “On the sheep-cropped summit, under hot sun, / The mouse crouched, staring out the chance / It dared not take.”
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“Cat and Mouse” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language
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Alliteration
Where alliteration appears in the poem:- Line 1: “summit,” “sun”
- Line 3: “take”
- Line 4: “Time”
- Line 5: “Too,” “to”
- Line 6: “hummed,” “heat-heavy”
- Line 8: “to two”
- Line 9: “Feet,” “four”
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Assonance
Where assonance appears in the poem:- Line 1: “On,” “cropped,” “summit,” “under,” “hot,” “sun”
- Line 2: “mouse crouched,” “out”
- Line 4: “Time”
- Line 5: “five mile”
- Line 8: “to two”
- Line 9: “or four”
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Caesura
Where caesura appears in the poem:- Line 1: “summit, under”
- Line 2: “crouched, staring”
- Line 6: “Woods, villages, farms—hummed”
- Line 9: “four, how”
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Enjambment
Where enjambment appears in the poem:- Lines 2-3: “chance / It”
- Lines 4-5: “world / Too”
- Lines 6-7: “heat-heavy / Stupor”
- Lines 8-9: “two / Feet”
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Imagery
Where imagery appears in the poem:- Line 1: “the sheep-cropped summit,” “hot sun”
- Lines 5-7: “the five mile prospect— / Woods, villages, farms—hummed its heat-heavy / Stupor of life.”
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Repetition
Where repetition appears in the poem:- Line 8: “Whether”
- Line 10: “Whether,” “eye,” “eye”
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“Cat and Mouse” Vocabulary
Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.
- Sheep-cropped
- Summit
- Prospect
- Stupor
- Contracted
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(Location in poem: Line 1: “the sheep-cropped summit”)
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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Cat and Mouse”
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Form
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Meter
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Rhyme Scheme
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“Cat and Mouse” Speaker
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“Cat and Mouse” Setting
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Literary and Historical Context of “Cat and Mouse”
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More “Cat and Mouse” Resources
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External Resources
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Five Views of Ted Hughes — Listen to a series of short radio documentaries exploring different aspects of Hughes's life and work.
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A Short Biography — Learn more about Hughes at the Poetry Foundation.
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Hughes's Influence — Watch contemporary poet Alice Oswald discussing Ted Hughes's work.
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Ted Hughes on Film — Watch a documentary about the poet.
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Hughes and Animals — Read an essay discussing the role of the natural world in Hughes's poetry.
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LitCharts on Other Poems by Ted Hughes
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