Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE STUDY OF A SPIDER, by JOHN BYRNE LEICESTER WARREN Poet's Biography First Line: From holy flower to holy flower Last Line: And from their gibbets take thy dead. Alternate Author Name(s): Lancaster, William P.; Preston, George F.; De Tabley, 3d Baron; De Tabley, Lord Subject(s): Insects; Spiders; Bugs | ||||||||
From holy flower to holy flower Thou weavest thine unhallowed bower. The harmless dewdrops, beaded thin, Ripple along thy ropes of sin. Thy house a grave, a gulf thy throne Affright the fairies every one. Thy winding sheets are gray and fell, Imprisoning with nets of hell The lovely births that winnow by, Winged sisters of the rainbow sky: Elf-darlings, fluffy, bee-bright things, And owl-white moths with mealy wings, And tiny flies, as gauzy thin As e'er were shut electrum in. These are thy death spoils, insect ghoul, With their dear life thy fangs are foul. Thou felon anchorite of pain Who sittest in a world of slain. Hermit, who tunest song unsweet To heaving wing and writhing feet. A glutton of creation's sighs, Miser of many miseries. Toper, whose lonely feasting chair Sways in inhospitable air. The board is bare, the bloated host Drinks to himself toast after toast. His lip requires no goblet brink, But like a weasel must he drink. The vintage is as old as time And bright as sunset, pressed and prime. Ah, venom mouth and shaggy things And paunch grown sleek with sacrifice, Thy dolphin back and shoulders round Coarse-hairy, as some goblin hound Whom a hag rides to sabbath on, While shuddering stars in fear grow wan. Thou palace priest of treachery, Thou type of selfish lechery, I break the toils around thy head And from their gibbets take thy dead. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE EXHAUSTED BUG; FOR MY FATHER by ROBERT BLY PLASTIC BEATITUDE by LAURE-ANNE BOSSELAAR BEETLE LIGHT; FOR DANIEL HILLEN by MADELINE DEFREES CLEMATIS MONTANA by MADELINE DEFREES THOMAS MERTON AND THE WINTER MARSH by NORMAN DUBIE NUPTIAL SONG by JOHN BYRNE LEICESTER WARREN |
|