Pangur Ban

 Pangur Ban

I and Pangur Ban my cat, ‘Tis a like task we are at: Hunting mice is his delight, Hunting words I sit all night. ‘Tis a merry thing to see At our tasks how glad are we, When at home we sit and find Entertainment to our mind. ‘Gainst the wall he sets his eye, Full and fierce and sharp and sly; “Gainst the wall of knowledge I All my little wisdom try. So in peace our task we ply, Pangur Ban my cat and I; In our arts we find our bliss, I have mine and he has his. ~ ANON ~

This was written in the 8th or 9th century, on a 4-page manuscript by an anonymous Irish Benedictine monk who lived in the extant St. Paul's Monastery on Reichenau Island in Lake Constance (Bodensee), where Germany meets with Carinthia, Austria.