Ode to Spot

"Ode to Spot" was a poem composed by Data, addressed to his pet cat, Spot. It was written in the iambic heptameter mode. (TNG: "Schisms")

Felis catus is your taxonomic nomenclature,
An endothermic quadruped, carnivorous by nature;
Your visual, olfactory, and auditory senses
Contribute to your hunting skills and natural defenses.

I find myself intrigued by your subvocal oscillations,
A singular development of cat communications
That obviates your basic hedonistic predilection
For a rhythmic stroking of your fur to demonstrate affection.

A tail is quite essential for your acrobatic talents;
You would not be so agile if you lacked its counterbalance.
And when not being utilized to aid in locomotion,
It often serves to illustrate the state of your emotion.

O Spot, the complex levels of behavior you display
Connote a fairly well-developed cognitive array.
And though you are not sentient and do not comprehend,
I nonetheless consider you a true and valued friend.

In 2369, the content of the poem replaced some files on the USS Enterprise-D's main computer when Data's personal files were accidentally uploaded to the computer during an experimental interface between it and his neural net. One of the files replaced was the text of the play Something for Breakfast. A progressive memory purge eventually corrected the problem. (TNG: "A Fistful of Datas")

Background

While the episodes' scripts – and the meaning of the words – indicate the first line to be a self-contained statement, both Brent Spiner and Jonathan Frakes misread it as part of a question:

Felis catus: is your taxonomic nomenclature

An endothermic quadruped, carnivorous by nature?