Mr. Edwards and the Spider

The first description of the spiders is full of wonder as the young Edwards gazes at the spiders that fill the summer air, seeming to fly as they build their webs among the trees. Edwards knows that the spiders will die, but he imagines a natural death as the spiders get swept up by the cold November wind that carries them to their eventual death.

The poem suddenly shifts to incorporate the views of the older Edwards, a Puritan preacher intent on saving the souls of his flock. Edwards uses his knowledge of spiders to create gripping images of sinners about to burn in hell. He uses the spiders that he knows so well but changes their symbolism when he shifts from the physical world to the spiritual world. The beautiful swimming spiders are now hovering over the pit of hell, symbols of the depravity of mankind. Spiders represent the sinner who is held aloft by the hand of God; God is eager to drop the traitorous sinner into the fires of hell.

Lowell changes the spider imagery yet again in the final line of the poem with the introduction of the Black Widow.