On a
sunny September day . . .
. . . an
industrious spider was at work, centred in her shimmering web, waiting for
hapless creatures to wander in.
'Will you walk into my parlour?' said a spider to a fly;
’Tis the prettiest little parlour that ever you did spy.
The way into my parlour is up a winding stair,
And I have many pretty things to shew when you are there.’
‘Oh, no, no!’ said the little fly, ‘to ask me is in vain,
For who goes up your winding stair can ne’er come down again.’
From the poem by Mary Howitt (1828)
When I was in junior high literature class, we had to memorize a poem and recite it in front of the class and this is the poem I chose! I still recall quite a bit of it and you brought back some fond memories.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I love the spider pictures!
Delete'Learning by heart' did us no harm. It's surprising how many snippets come back at different times.
Deleteoh goodness. I am not fond of spiders or their webs. I was bitten by a brown recluse several years ago. was sick for over a year.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds dreadful! We don't' have anything like that, fortunately.
DeleteGreat little poem. Good for children.
ReplyDeleteI thought so, too.
DeleteI like spiders. They are fascinating. I asked my husband last night about tarantulas. He doesn’t want one. I had a friend when I was a kid who had one and he used to bring it to school in his pocket until the teacher found out. Yeah I’m a bit weird that way I guess. As for snakes - no way.
ReplyDeleteI'm not keen on spiders generally, though they are fascinating and I do like to see magnification of their legs. I would not have been happy to have a tarantula in my classroom . . .
DeleteI only knew the first line of the poem, and it is quite sweet, as the fly survives.
ReplyDeleteWhen you read on you discover that the little fly succumbs to the wheedling of the spider, and realises the mistake too late.
DeleteBeautiful web and very smart fly. I almost never see huge webs here, too many other critters go through my "garden", including people taking shortcuts. I love the charcoal (crayon?) train drawing.
ReplyDeleteThe little fly doesn't survive in the last verse.
DeleteThe drawing is one my son did in crayon when he was about three years old.
Spiders, no thank you
ReplyDeleteI like them outside - that's where they belong!
DeleteI've never read the entire poem. Liked reading it all!
ReplyDeleteEveryone seems to have heard the first couple of lines, but it's interesting to read the whole poem.
DeleteI don't think I have ever heard the whole poem. Interesting looking spider.
ReplyDeleteI think it's a common orb weaver.
DeleteI like spiders and I think they are in an incredible tiny creature. These are some beautiful pictures taken of the cobweb.
ReplyDeleteThey are amazing little creatures, though not my favourite. It's interesting to see the patterns on their bodies.
DeleteThey are intriguing creatures. While they don’t creep me out as they do some people, I sure don’t want to snuggle with them either.
ReplyDeleteThey used to make me shudder much more than they do now. Looking closely at them has helped, strangely.
ReplyDeleteI have an irrational fear of spiders usually accompanied by singing high notes that can shatter glass and doing a little dance. I had to scroll by the post and pictures.
ReplyDeleteI don't love them, but they are interesting.
DeleteLovely poem and I like your header.
ReplyDeleteIt's a sweet verse, and the rest of the poem is worth reading, too.
DeleteNo matter how hard I try I just can't like being around spiders. The rhyme is nice though
ReplyDeleteAlison in Devon x
I prefer them to be out of doors, and I don't like walking into their webs, either. 😟
DeleteI admire the web but keep the spiders away from me.
ReplyDeleteLikewise.
ReplyDeleteI admire their webs, but spiders themselves make me shudder (especially big ones)... They just have too many legs!!!
ReplyDeleteI like the pretty little candy-striped crab spiders, but I hate the scuttling black spiders with their heavy bodies and hairy legs.
DeleteThis is the season where spiders love to weave webs around my house. Sometimes I go out the front door to get the newspaper in the morning and break a web. Spiders are so industrious and I almost feel sorry for them because they have to rebuild what I destroyed out of no maliciousness.
ReplyDeleteI love seeing the webs covered in dew sparkling in the sunshine.
DeleteYou're so lucky having all these grandchildren and g-grandchildren!
ReplyDeleteI count my blessings.
DeleteI like that poem by Mary Howitt, and the photographs you've shared are brilliant.
ReplyDeleteAll the best Jan
There's so much to see, if only we stop to look.
DeleteMy grandfather used to recite the start of that to us - he didn't know the all of it I guess.
ReplyDeleteLovely memory. It's often the case that we remember snatches of verse.
DeleteThanks for being observant enough to capture the spider and web.
ReplyDeleteWe enjoy the little things in life.
DeleteWhat a clever fly! Much more clever than the spider who resides just outside our back door. No matter how many times its web gets inadvertently destroyed by us walking from our back door to the shed, there it is again the next day! xxx
ReplyDeleteYou'd think it would cotton on and move elsewhere. 🤣
ReplyDeleteI like spiders. This was a cute post. I like seeing the webs they make.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate spiders when they stay out of doors!
DeleteA beautiful spider but deadly to the fly or any other creature unfortunate enough to end up in that trap.
ReplyDeleteI don't like to see things struggling helplessly in a web.
ReplyDelete