A ra ch ne and the Poets. 201 



And then he goes on to plead that the beauty of the spider's 

 skilful web alone " might for some venial faults atone ; " 

 while its patience in calamity, "its courage to endure or 

 wait," its " self-reliance," claim several stanzas : 



" Should stormy wind or thunder-shower 

 Assail thy web ; in evil hour 

 Should ruthless hand of lynx-eyed boy, 

 Or the prim gardener's rake, destroy 

 The clever mathematic maze 

 Thou spreadest in our garden ways, 

 No vain repinings mar thy rest, 

 No idle sorrows fill thy breast. 



Thou mayst perchance deplore thy lot, 

 Or sigh that fortune love thee not ; 

 But never dost thou sulk and mope, 

 Or lie and groan, forgetting hope ; 

 Still, with a patience calm and true, 

 Thou workest all thy work anew, 

 As if thou felt that Heaven is just 

 To very creature of the dust. 



And that the Providence, whose plan 

 Gives life to spiders as to man, 

 Will ne'er accord its aid divine 

 To those who lazily repine." 



Historical spiders except that which, with the assistance 

 of the "bird of Mecca," saved Mahomet from his pursuers, 

 and the other that Bruce said he took inspiration from, are 

 not honoured in verse. The latter legend is very befittingly 

 done into rhyme by Eliza Cook. What does the patriotic 

 Scot say to this as a setting for that immortal myth : 



1 ' It soon began to cling and crawl 

 Straight up, with strong endeavour ; 

 But down it came with a slippery sprawl, 

 As near to the ground as ever." 



Nor may the spider of the dungeon in Chillon be 

 forgotten : 



1 ' With spiders I had friendship made, 

 And watch'd them in their sullen trade, 

 Had seen the mice by moonlight play, 

 And why should I feel less than they ? 



