I saw the spiders marching through the air, Swimming from tree to tree that mildewed day In latter August when the hay Came creaking to the barn. But where The wind is westerly, Where gnarled November makes the spiders fly Into the apparitions of the sky, They purpose nothing but their ease and die Urgently beating east to sunrise and the sea; Robert Lowell
About This Quote

In this poem, Mary Oliver captures the life of a spider in a phrase that ends with the word “die”. The word “die” means death, so it's telling us that these spiders have no other option but to die. Interestingly enough, this is not a very popular topic in poetry. The vast majority of poems in English are about love or death or something along those lines. But in this poem, Mary Oliver explores a subject that many people would rather avoid talking about.

Source: Collected Poems

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