6 Must-Read Spider Poems

Poems about spiders deal with the visual appearance and interesting character traits associated with these animals. These poems often highlight how smart or creepy these creatures can be, reminding readers how important they are in the large scheme of the natural world.

Poems about Spiders Visual Representation

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After Killing a Spider

by Masaoka Shiki

‘After Killing a Spider’ by Masaoka Shiki is a thoughtful poem. It describes the negative and dark effects of killing a spider.

This poem is certainly a fantastic example of poems about spiders. The piece is entirely focused on the emotions that follow a speaker killing a spider. He immediately regrets it, realizing that some company is better than no company. The poem also reminds readers of the importance of all life.

After killing

a spider, how lonely I feel

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The Spider and the Fly

by Mary Howitt

‘The Spider and the Fly’ by Mary Howitt describes the entrapment of a silly fly who gives into her own vanity and loses her life to a cunning spider.

This poem is a fantastic example of a poem about spiders. This poem focuses on how cunning spiders can be and the threat they pose to small insects, like flies. This poem speaks about spiders as intelligent and clever.

"Will you walk into my parlour?" said the Spider to the 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 curious things to shew when you are there."

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Itsy Bitsy Spider

by Anonymous

‘Itsy Bitsy Spider’ or ‘Incy Wincy Spider’ is a popular nursery rhymes, partly due to the finger movements which go along with each line.

This poem is a truly great example of a poem about spiders. The poem is known worldwide and is commonly sung to and with children of all ages. It is also usually accompanied by hand motions, demonstrating the movements of the spider up and down the waterspout.

The itsy bitsy spider climbed up the waterspout.

Down came the rain

and washed the spider out.

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A Noiseless Patient Spider

by Walt Whitman

‘A Noiseless Patient Spider’ by Walt Whitman is a beautiful discussion of the human soul that uses a spider as a metaphor.

This Whitman poem is a great example of a poem about spiders that uses a spider to talk about the soul. It represents patients and quiet. It also demonstrates a determined effort to reach out and establish connections, relating to the human desire to find meaning in life.

A noiseless patient spider,

I mark’d where on a little promontory it stood isolated,

Mark’d how to explore the vacant vast surrounding,

It launch’d forth filament, filament, filament, out of itself,

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10 Legs, 8 Broken (Spider Poem)

by Undefined Poet

’10 Legs, 8 Broken’ is a poem that looks at the perspective of a human who is frightened of spiders, and the spider that they have killed.

This is an excellent poem about spiders. It shows how people feel when they are frightened of spiders, and then it manages to change the tone by showing things from the spider's perspective. It allows people to see things in a different light, considering spiders as more than just something to be frightened of. The spider considers the reasons why people might find it frightening, and the fact that these things are just a part of its nature.

To the spider,
the shadowed creature in the corner of the room
i hate you.

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There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly

by Anonymous

‘There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly’ is a funny children’s rhyme. It describes an old lady who swallows everything from a fly to a cat to a horse.

The inclusion of a spider is a key moment in the poem, as it is the first animal that the old lady swallows in an attempt to catch the fly. The spider's role is significant because it sets off the chain of increasingly strange decisions, making the story more amusing and unpredictable, while also adding an element of creeping and wiggling action.

There was an old lady who swallowed a fly.

I dunno why she swallowed that fly,

Perhaps she'll die.

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6 Must-Read Spider Poems

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6 Must-Read Spider Poems

After Killing a Spider

by Masaoka Shiki

The Spider and the Fly

by Mary Howitt

Itsy Bitsy Spider

by Anonymous

A Noiseless Patient Spider

by Walt Whitman

10 Legs, 8 Broken (Spider Poem)

by Undefined Poet

There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly

by Anonymous

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