 | Jane and Ann Taylor: Original Poems for Infant Minds |  |
THE SPIDER AND HIS WIFE.
In a dark little crack, half a yard from the ground,
An honest old spider resided;
So pleasant, and snug, and convenient 'twas found,
That his friends came to see it from many miles round:
It seemed for his pleasure provided.
An honest old spider resided;
So pleasant, and snug, and convenient 'twas found,
That his friends came to see it from many miles round:
It seemed for his pleasure provided.
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Of the cares, and fatigues, and distresses of life,
This spider was thoroughly tired;
So, leaving those scenes of distraction and strife
(His children all settled), he came with his wife
To live in this cranny retired.
This spider was thoroughly tired;
So, leaving those scenes of distraction and strife
(His children all settled), he came with his wife
To live in this cranny retired.
He thought that the little his wife would consume,
'Twould be easy for him to provide her;
Forgetting he lived in a gentleman's room,
Where came, every morning, a maid and a broom,
Those pitiless foes to a spider!
'Twould be easy for him to provide her;
Forgetting he lived in a gentleman's room,
Where came, every morning, a maid and a broom,
Those pitiless foes to a spider!
For when (as sometimes it would chance to befall)
The moment his web was completed,
Brush—came the great broom down the side of the wall,
And, perhaps, carried with it web, spider, and all,
He thought himself cruelly treated.
The moment his web was completed,
Brush—came the great broom down the side of the wall,
And, perhaps, carried with it web, spider, and all,
He thought himself cruelly treated.
One day, when their cupboard was empty and dry,
His wife (Mrs. Hairy-leg Spinner)
Said to him, “Dear, go to the cobweb and try
If you can't find the leg or the wing of a fly,
Just a bit of a relish for dinner.”
His wife (Mrs. Hairy-leg Spinner)
Said to him, “Dear, go to the cobweb and try
If you can't find the leg or the wing of a fly,
Just a bit of a relish for dinner.”
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Directly he went, his long search to resume,
(For nothing he ever denied her),
Alas! little guessing his terrible doom;
Just then came the gentleman into the room,
And saw the unfortunate spider.
(For nothing he ever denied her),
Alas! little guessing his terrible doom;
Just then came the gentleman into the room,
And saw the unfortunate spider.
So while the poor insect, in search of his pelf,
In the cobweb continued to linger,
The gentleman reached a long cane from the shelf,
(For certain good reasons, best known to himself,
Preferring his stick to his finger):
In the cobweb continued to linger,
The gentleman reached a long cane from the shelf,
(For certain good reasons, best known to himself,
Preferring his stick to his finger):
Then presently poking him down to the floor,
Nor stopping at all to consider,
With one horrid crash the whole business was o'er,
he poor little spider was heard of no more,
To the lasting distress of his widow!
Nor stopping at all to consider,
With one horrid crash the whole business was o'er,
he poor little spider was heard of no more,
To the lasting distress of his widow!
| Jane and Ann Taylor: Original Poems for Infant Minds | |