Don Marquis's a spider and a fly

Don Marquis's a spider and a fly

i heard a spider
and a fly arguing
wait said the fly
do not eat me
i serve a great purpose
in the world

you will have to
show me said the spider

i scurry around
gutters and sewers
and garbage cans
said the fly and gather
up the germs of
typhoid influenza
and pneumonia on my feet
and wings
then i carry these germs
into households of men
and give them diseases
all the people who
have lived the right
sort of life recover
from the diseases
and the old soaks who
have weakened their systems
with liquor and iniquity
succumb it is my mission
to help rid the world
of these wicked persons
i am a vessel of righteousness
scattering seeds of justice
and serving the noblest uses

it is true said the spider
that you are more
useful in a plodding
material sort of way
than i am but i do not
serve the utilitarian deities
i serve the gods of beauty
look at the gossamer webs
i weave they float in the sun
like filaments of song
if you get what i mean
i do not work at anything
i play all the time
i am busy with the stuff
of enchantment and the materials
of fairyland my works
transcend utility
i am the artist
a creator and demi god
it is ridiculous to suppose
that i should be denied
the food i need in order
to continue to create
beauty i tell you
plainly mister fly it is all
damned nonsense for that food
to rear up on its hind legs
and say it should not be eaten

you have convinced me
said the fly say no more
and shutting all his eyes
he prepared himself for dinner
and yet he said i could
have made out a case
for myself too if i had
had a better line of talk

of course you could said the spider
clutching a sirloin from him
but the end would have been
just the same if neither of
us had spoken at all

boss i am afraid that what
the spider said is true
and it gives me to think
furiously upon the futility
of literature
archy”

Don Marquis's a spider and a fly 

In the first stanza of "The Spider and the Fly," the spider attempts to convince the fly to come up to his parlour (web), but the fly replies that those who do so never return. 

In the second stanza, the spider attempts to convince the fly how comfortable his bed is, but the fly responds that those who sleep on his bed never wake again. 

In the third stanza, the spider proclaims his affection for the fly and offers what he has in his pantry, but the fly doesn't wish to see it. 

In the fourth stanza, the spider offers flattery and a chance for the fly to look upon herself in his mirror. The fly is flattered and says she'll call on him another day. 

In the fifth stanza, the spider knows the fly was flattered, so he prepares for her arrival, believing that the fly has begun to trust him. When she returns, he flatters her again to seal the deal. 

In the sixth stanza, still enamoured with the spider's flattery, the fly gets closer and closer until the spider captures her. 

The final stanza is spoken directly to the listener, in this case, it is students. The poem is a lesson that some use flattery simply as a way to get what they want or to seduce other people. Although this is a general lesson intended for students, this poem has been interpreted as a cautionary tale for women not to be seduced by manipulative men. 

Don Marquis's a spider and a fly