"Spider, spinner! ― you're very late!
What do you think will be your fate
Should the Fairy Queen and court arrive
To find the tent you promised to spin
Of the glossiest web at precisely five
Not ready for holding the dances in?
She may change you into a tiny gnat,
Or a fly, or something worse than that!
There's only an hour before the ball
To finish the room for our dance to night,
So that when the dew shall fall
It will spangle all with silver light.
You've wasted time in catching flies ―
I read the truth in your eight green eyes!
To work with a will, for the sun is low,
And soon the moon comes over the hill;
The fairies begin to gather, you know,
As soon as they hear the whippoorwill.
Haste, then; spin! ― or you'll be too late.
The Fairy Queen will never wait;
And unless the pavilion shall be complete,
The nug gray roof with dew pearls spread,
The silken rug for the fairy feet,
Oh, spider! you may quake with dread!"
An illustrated Victorian fantasy poem titled "The Queen's Messenger" written by Tudor Jenks about a spider tasked with spinning a party tent for the Fairy Queen. Great for framed poetry, graphic design, papercrafts, nursery art or scrapbooking projects. You can download the poem in full as a high-res 8" x 12" @ 300 ppi JPEG without a watermark here.
From my personal collection of ephemera. These images are to be incorporated into your creative endeavors and not for resale or re-distribution "as-is". Please credit FieldandGarden.com as your source when sharing or publishing.