05.05.2009, 18:47
THE SPIDER.
If any of the Arachnean race,
Fat and well-filled be near, let him beware
Of thee, old Spider; with such stealthy pace
That travellest through the frore autumnal air :
So fierce a hunger drives thee from thy lair,
To feed like Ugolino on thy kind;
Rapine is all before thee ; and behind
Thy broken web—that on its film doth bear
Thick drops of cold uncomfortable dew,
Like those which on the dying leaves are spread.
The flies creep doors and window corners through;
Gaunt are thy sides—no more by tree or shed,
Can they that pensile citadel renew,
In which thy gluttonous youth so full was fed.
If any of the Arachnean race,
Fat and well-filled be near, let him beware
Of thee, old Spider; with such stealthy pace
That travellest through the frore autumnal air :
So fierce a hunger drives thee from thy lair,
To feed like Ugolino on thy kind;
Rapine is all before thee ; and behind
Thy broken web—that on its film doth bear
Thick drops of cold uncomfortable dew,
Like those which on the dying leaves are spread.
The flies creep doors and window corners through;
Gaunt are thy sides—no more by tree or shed,
Can they that pensile citadel renew,
In which thy gluttonous youth so full was fed.