ght among the tombs, up from the dell;
But unrewarded, when the sun was quenched,
Sat down to weep. So darkness dropped,
And like an awful spider, o'er the earth
Crawled with gaunt legs of shadow. Then our homes
We sadly sought, to meet again at morn.

The night was warm, and with my window raised,
I sat and mourned, and wrung my hopeless hands.
No light was in the house. I half reclined--
My back toward the window. Something shut
The puny sheen of starlight from the room.
The Thing, a monstrous shape, was with me there,
And two hard arms were thrown about my waist.
For very terror I was hushed, nor moved
To cast my foe off. I was in the arms
Of the strong spider. As we went, I grew
Glad, for I thought that now I should be brought
To the great spider's web, and there, mayhap,
Learn the sad fate of her I loved so well.
Up a stark cliff we went, then crossed the web
Just as the red moon bloomed upon the hills
And silvered all the Panticapean vale.
The funnel of the web was in the mouth
Of a vast tomb, whose outside, hewn on rock,
Outlined a Gorgon's face with jaws agape--
Some stern Medusa, Stheno, or Euryale,
Changed to the stone that in the elder days
She changed the sons of men who looked on her.
We passed the funnel, entering the tomb.
About my arms the spider threw his cords,
And shackled them. I dared not move, but lay
Upon the smooth stone floor, inured to fear.
I fancied now that I was safe till dawn.
If I could use my hands I then might find
Some weapon of defense, some club, or stone,
And so resist with some small chance for life.
The thought bred strength. I slowly drew my arms
Upon my sides, and, with persistence, gained
Their freedom; though about the wrists, the flesh
Was bruised and harrowed, and my blood made wet
The spider's cord wherewith I had been bound.

The night seemed endless. As it came to dawn,
A faint moan woke an echo in the tomb.
The echo seemed a cry of pity, sent
For solace to the moan. As light grew strong,
I saw, not far from where I had been laid,
A maiden sitting. All her hair set free,
She made of it a pillow as she leaned
Against the painted wall. My heart threw wide
To her my arms, his hospitable doors;
The guest within, at once the doors were shut.

The sun came up, and spread a cloth of gold
Over the sea. We saw the vale beneath,
And there the town, and fancied where, among
The trees upon the shore, her cottag