| Hunt and Lee, comps. The Book of the Sonnet. 1867. | | | | VI. Silkworms and Spiders | | By Charles Tennyson (1808–1879) |
| | | THE WORM long fosters his transforming sleep, | |
| But claims th’ inalienable life again, | |
| Which, though it be but one, yet seemeth twain, | |
| The trance between is all so deadly deep: | |
| The careful spider spreads before his lair | 5 |
| The web, ygathered near his filmy heart | |
| Withouten throes or any vital smart, | |
| And of his entrails makes his foes a snare. | |
| In both a mighty mystery resides, | |
| A truth, on whose development they thrive; | 10 |
| One for the cravings of his life provides, | |
| One weaves himself another way to live. | |
| To reach the secret is beyond our lore, | |
| And man must rest, till God doth furnish more. | | | | |
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