When we were charming Backfisch
 With curls and velvet bows
We shared a charming kitten
 With tiny velvet toes.

It was so gay and playful;
 It flew like a woolly ball
From my lap to your shoulder—
 And, oh, it was so small,

So warm—and so obedient
 If we cried: ‘That's enough!’
It lay and slept between us,
 A purring ball of fluff.

But now that I am thirty
 And she is thirty-one,
I shudder to discover
 How wild our cat has run.

It's bigger than a Tiger,
 Its eyes are jets of flame,
Its claws are gleaming daggers,
 Could it have once been tame?

Take it away; I'm frightened!
 But she, with placid brow,
Cries: ‘This is our Kitty-witty!
 Why don't you love her now?’