| The cat went here and there |
| And the moon spun round like a top, |
| And the nearest kin of the moon, |
| The
creeping cat, looked up. |
| Black Minnaloushe stared at the moon, |
| For, wander and wail as he would, |
| The
pure cold light in the sky |
| Troubled his animal blood. |
| Minnaloushe runs in the grass |
| Lifting his delicate
feet. |
| Do you dance, Minnaloushe, do you dance? |
| When two close kindred meet, |
| What better than call
a dance? |
| Maybe the moon may learn, |
| Tired of that courtly fashion, |
| A new dance turn. |
| Minnaloushe
creeps through the grass |
| From moonlit place to place, |
| The sacred moon overhead |
| Has taken a new
phase. |
| Does Minnaloushe know that his pupils |
| Will pass from change to change, |
| And that from round to
crescent, |
| From crescent to round they range? |
| Minnaloushe creeps through the grass |
| Alone, important
and wise, |
| And lifts to the changing moon |
| His changing eyes. |