 | A Sonnet Chronicle |  |
78
The Spider's Message
At a Gilchrist Lecture.
The loves of all the gods of old she wove—
A Lydian maiden now in spider's guise;
The mind of one Almighty and All-wise
She tells to-day, and that His mind is Love.
Whether o'er rushing streams, in ocean cove
She weaves her orb with its intricacies,
Or twangs her thread to beaded grace, or flies
Her kite, or guards her casket's treasure-trove.
A Lydian maiden now in spider's guise;
The mind of one Almighty and All-wise
She tells to-day, and that His mind is Love.
Whether o'er rushing streams, in ocean cove
She weaves her orb with its intricacies,
Or twangs her thread to beaded grace, or flies
Her kite, or guards her casket's treasure-trove.
Yet as I watch the marvellous engineer
Guess at wind-pressure, and on favouring wind
Send forth at will her silk from stores within,
One message for men's souls I seem to hear
“Let others live to eat, I eat to spin,
Joy's soul is work: God helps the worker's mind!”
Guess at wind-pressure, and on favouring wind
Send forth at will her silk from stores within,
One message for men's souls I seem to hear
“Let others live to eat, I eat to spin,
Joy's soul is work: God helps the worker's mind!”
| A Sonnet Chronicle | |