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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE SPINNER, by                    
First Line: The spinner twisted her slender thread
Last Line: "in a winding-sheet!"
Alternate Author Name(s): Bridges, Madeline
Subject(s): Disappointment; Grief; Spinning; Sorrow; Sadness


The spinner twisted her slender thread
As she sat and spun:
"The earth and the heavens are mine," she said,
"And the moon and sun;
Into my web the sunlight goes,
And the breath of May,
And the crimson life of the new-blown rose
That was born to-day."
The spinner sang in the hush of noon
And her song was low:
"Ah, morning, you pass away too soon,
You are swift to go.
My heart o'erflows like a brimming cup
With its hopes and fears.
Love, come and drink the sweetness up
Ere it turn to tears."
The spinner looked at the falling sun:
"Is it time to rest?
My hands are weary, -- my work is done,
I have wrought my best;
I have spun and woven with patient eyes
And with fingers fleet.
Lo! where the toil of a lifetime lies
In a winding-sheet!"




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