T. S. Eliot:  Skimbleshanks: The Railway Cat 

             

About the Poet: Thomas Stearns Eliot better known as T. S. Eliot was an essayist, publisher, playwright, literary and social critic, and one of the twentieth century’s major poets. T S Eliot was born in St. Louis, Missouri, on September 26, 1888 and died on 4 January 1965. His poems in many respects articulated the disillusionment of a younger post, World War I generation with the values and conventions, both literary and social, of the Victorian era. As a critic also, he had an enormous impact on contemporary literary taste. His first book of poems,Prufrock and Other Observations, was published in 1917, and immediately established him as a leading poet of the avant-garde. With the publication of The Waste Land in 1922, now considered by many to be the single most influential poetic work of the twentieth century, Eliot’s reputation began to grow to nearly mythic proportions.By 1930, and for the next thirty years, he was the most dominant figure in poetry and literary criticism in the English-speaking world.

About the Poem:

Skimbleshanks is a cat character in T. S. Eliot’s book of poetry Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats and in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musicalCats.The T. S Eliot poem begins as a parody of Rudyard Kipling’s poem “l’Envoi” (also known as “The Long Trail”) from Barrack-Room Ballads and Other Verses. The role of Skimbleshanks was originated in London by Kenn Wells and on Broadway by Reed Jones. Geoffrey Garratt plays him in the 1998 video version of the musical. Felix Hess played the part in the Worldwide Tour from 2007-2008. In the worldwide tour at the moment he is played by Louie Napoleon. In the 2013 TIGS production, he will be played by Ethan Butson.

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Summary:

We start the journey with the poet at the railway station. The Night Mail is ready to start. But it seems that everybody is restless and their murmuring and confused movements give us a feeling that they are waiting for someone to give a “green signal” for the journey. At last when it was 11.42 we see Skimble coming out of the luggage van and the signal goes “All Clear”. The train is set for the North.

Throughout the journey whenever you open your eyes or wherever the train stops you can see the cat somewhere on the train or out on the platform. The cat’s presence makes an impression that he is in charge of the train. The poet presents the cat as the most important one on the train. He is attributed with the roles of a supervisor, stationmaster’s friend or a patrolling police officer. He is present at the bagmen playing cards, he roams in the first class as well as the third class. He examines every passenger and we may feel that he never aproves of any riot. Naturally the passengers are quiet at night and it leaves an impression that he is responsible for such a calm atmosphere.

While you are going to your bed in your cabin you see the cat behind the guard. It may indicate that it is he who made the guard to ask your preference of weak or strong tea in the morning. Even when you sleep peacefully the cat continues its ’rounds’ on the train. The poet makes witty comments on the cat’s habit of drinking scotch whisky to make his night watch more vigilant. At every station the cat gets out of the train and refresh himself. In the morning whe you reach your station you can see Skimble in front of you bidding good bye to you. He gives you a wave of his long brown tail and tells you “ I’ll see you again!”.

This is the substance of the poem. In other words, the poet describes the importance and significance of Skimbleshanks and presents him as the most important passenger aboard the train. Eliot portrays how the cat caters to the needs of the passengers and the general security of the train.

Conclusion:

Skimbleshanks is the poem on a cat that is very intelligent. As if he is a detective he checks each and every thing he remembers the faces of persons.

The Night Mail is ready to start. But it seems that everybody is restless and their murmuring and confused movements give us a feeling that they are waiting for someone to give a “green signal” for the journey. At last when it was 11.42 we see Skimble coming out of the luggage van and the signal goes “All Clear”. The train is set for the North.

The staffs of the railway system are in commotion to find Skimbleshanks as he is the main manager of the train. He checks for all kind of hilarity and riot and seeks the comfort of passengers. He is the one to give the train the signal to move and so without him train can’t start. He is very alert. He is quite intelligent and clever. He writes the passengers’ name on their respective berths. There is a clean new sheet for each. Floor is too clean. Light can be adjusted accordingly. There is a fan. There is a beautiful basin. You can shut the window if you feel cold. Kind of morning tea is asked. He catches fleas and mice. At night he has a cup of tea probably with some scotch in it. He takes care of everything. When a passenger leaves, he greets them.

Lyrics:

Skimbleshanks the Railway Cat, the Cat of the Railway Train
There's a whisper down the line at eleven thirty-nine
When the Night Mail's ready to depart
Saying, "Skimble, where is Skimble?
Has he gone to hunt the thimble?
We must find him or the train can't start" 

All the guards and all the porters
And the station master's daughters
Would be searching high and low
Saying "Skimble where is Skimble for unless he's very nimble
Then the night mail just can't go." 

At eleven forty-two with the signal overdue
And the passengers all frantic to a man
That's when I would appear and I'd saunter to the rear
I'd been busy in the luggage van! 

Then he gave one flash of his glass-green eyes
And the signal went "All Clear!"
They'd be off at last to the northern part of the Northern Hemisphere! 

Skimbleshanks the Railway Cat
The Cat of the Railway Train
You might say that by and large it was me who was in charge
Of the Sleeping Car Express
From the driver and the guards to the bagmen playing cards
I would supervise them all more or less 

Down the corridor he paces and examines all the faces
Of the travellers in the first and the third
He established control by a regular patrol
And he'd know at once if anything occurred 

He would watch you without winking and he saw what you were thinking
And it's certain that he didn't approve
Of hilarity and riot so that folk were very quiet
When Skimble was about and on the move 

You could play no pranks with Skimbleshanks!
He's a cat that couldn't be ignored
So nothing went wrong on the Northern Mail
When Skimbleshanks was aboard 

It was very pleasant when they'd found their little den
With their name written up on the door
And the berth was very neat with a newly folded sheet
And not a speck of dust upon the floor 

There was every sort of light
You could make it dark or bright
And a button you could turn to make a breeze
And a funny little basin you're supposed to wash your face in
And a crank to shut the window should you sneeze 

Then the guard looked in politely and would ask you very brightly,
"Do you like your morning tea weak or strong?"
But I was just behind him and was ready to remind him
For Skimble won't let anything go wrong 

When they crept into their cosy berth and pulled up the counterpane
They all could reflect that it was very nice
To know that they wouldn't be bothered by mice
They can leave all that to the Railway Cat
The Cat of the Railway Train 

Skimbleshanks the Railway Cat
The Cat of the Railway Train
In the watches of the night I was always fresh and bright
Every now and then I'd have a cup of tea
With perhaps a drop of scotch while I was keeping on the watch
Only stopping here and there to catch a flea 

They were fast asleep at Crewe and so they never knew
That I was walking up and down the station
They were sleeping all the while I was busy at Carlisle
Where I met the station master with elation 

They might see me at Dumfries if I summoned the police
If there was anything they ought to know about 

When they got to Gallowgate there they did not have to wait
For Skimbleshanks would help them to get out! 

And he gives a wave of his long brown tail
Which says "I'll see you again!
You'll meet without fail on the Midnight Mail
The Cat of the Railway Train!"