August 28, 1749

The Poems of Goethe, were translated in a volume of that title, in 1853. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (August 28, 1749 to March 22, 1832) was a genius in various endeavors. Here is one of several works in which Goethe mentions a cat.


GYPSY SONG. [Zigeunerlied]

In the drizzling mist, with the snow high-piled,
In the winter night, in the forest wild,
I heard the wolves with their ravenous howl,
I heard the screaming note of the owl:
Wille wau wau wau!

Wille wo wo wo!
Wito hu!


I shot, one day, a cat in the ditch —
The dear black cat of Anna the witch;
Upon me, at night, seven were-wolves came down,
Seven women they were, from out of the town.
Wille wau wau wau!

Wille wo! wo! wo!
Wito hu!


I knew them all; ay, I knew them straight;
First, Anna, then Ursula, Eve, and Kate,
And Barbara, Lizzy, and Bet as well:
And forming a ring, they began to yell:
Wille wau wau, wau!


Wille wo wo wo!
Wito hu!


Then called I their names with angry threat:
"What wouldst thou, Anna? What wouldst thou,
Bet?"
At hearing my voice, themselves they shook,
And howling and yelling, to flight they took.
Wille wau wau wau!

Wille wo wo wo!
Wito hu!

.......

This was translated by Edgar Alfred Bowring. You can hear through a clumsy English, the sweet and clear diction of a real poet.  Not that I know what this text means, though. I assume that is my ignorance of German culture.

The German for the first stanza reads:

Im Nebelgeriesel, im tiefen Echoee, Im wilden Wald, in der Winternacht, Ich hörte der Wölfe Hungergeheul, Ich hörte der Eulen Geschrei- Wille wau wou wau! Wille wo wo wo! Wito hu!.

Just so you know German wolves sound like English wolves.