The Spider Holds a Silver Ball
The Spider Holds a Silver Ball - meaning Summary
Minute Maker, Grand Illusion
Dickinson depicts a spider quietly spinning a "Silver Ball" of silk, creating intricate, luminous webs from nothing. The spider’s work is solitary, unnoticed by humans, yet it briefly rivals human craftsmanship by supplanting household tapestries. The poem emphasizes the contrast between the spider’s patient, almost sovereign labors and the fragility of its creations, which can be casually dismantled and forgotten by a housewife’s broom.
Read Complete AnalysesThe spider holds a Silver Ball In unperceived Hands– And dancing softly to Himself His Yarn of Pearl–unwinds– He plies from Nought to Nought– In unsubstantial Trade– Supplants our Tapestries with His– In half the period– An Hour to rear supreme His Continents of Light– Then dangle from the Housewife’s Broom– His Boundaries–forgot–
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