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As far as I recall, Minnaloushe was a cat belonging to the Gregory family, who were friends of Yeats, and he then wrote what must have been a nonce poem, though it's so powerful it's hard to imagine that he just saw a playful kitty through a window ...

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Anyway, it's possible that a scholarly edition of Yeats's writings might gloss it. Worth a try! Please let us know if you come up with anything.

I doubt Menelaus and Minnaloushe would be related - Menelaus is pronounced men-eh-LAY-us, whereas I imagine Minnaloushe would be pronounced min-uh-LOWSH - quite different at the end.

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Novaly appears to be a place in Russia, and possibly also a Russian surname.