The Awefull Battle of the Pekes and the Pollicles The Awefull Battle of the Pekes and the Pollicles "(Of) The Awefull Battle of the Pekes and the Pollicles" (Together with Some Account of the Participation of the Pugs and the Poms and the Intervention of the Great Rumpus Cat) is a poem by T. S. Eliot, which appears in the book, "Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats" (published 1939). Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical "Cats" is adapted from the book, and "The Awefull Battle of the Pekes and the Pollicles" is included in the musical, in which it is sung mostly by Munkustrap. It describes a battle between two neighbouring
T. S. Eliot In his 1934 pageant play "The Rock", Eliot distances himself from Fascist movements of the Thirties by caricaturing Oswald Mosley's Blackshirts, who 'firmly refuse/ To descend to palaver with anthropoid Jews'. The 'new evangels' of totalitarianism are presented as antithetic to the spirit of Christianity. Craig Raine, in his books "In Defence of T. S. Eliot" (2001) and "T. S. Eliot" (2006), sought to defend Eliot from the charge of anti-Semitism. Reviewing the 2006 book, Paul Dean stated that he was not convinced by Raine's argument. Nevertheless, he concluded, "Ultimately, as both Raine and, to do him justice, Julius insist,