The Spider and the Fly (poem)

The Spider and the Fly 
by Mary Howitt
Subject(s) Fable
Genre(s) Children's verse
Publication date 1829 (1829)
The Spider and the Fly


β€œWill 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've a many curious things to show when you are there.”

β€œOh no, no,” said the little Fly, β€œto ask me is in vain,
 For who goes up your winding stair
     -can ne'er come down again.”

~By Mary Howitt, 1829

The Spider and the Fly is a poem by Mary Howitt (1799-1888), published in 1829. The first line of the poem is "'Will you walk into my parlour?' said the Spider to the Fly." The story tells of a cunning Spider who ensnares a naive Fly through the use of seduction and flattery. The poem is a cautionary tale against those who use flattery and charm to disguise their true evil intentions. When Lewis Carroll was readying Alice's Adventures Under Ground for publication he replaced a parody he had made of a negro minstrel song[1] with a parody of Howitt's poem. The "Lobster Quadrille", in Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, is a parody of Howitt's poem; it mimics the meter and rhyme scheme, and parodies the first line, but not the subject matter, of the original.[2]

An illustrated version by Tony DiTerlizzi[3] was a 2003 Caldecott Honor Book.

Cultural influence

The opening line is one of the most recognized and quoted first lines in all of English verse.[4] Often misquoted as "Step into my parlour" or "Come into my parlour", it has become an aphorism, often used to indicate a false offer of help or friendship that is in fact a trap. The line has been used and parodied numerous times in various works of fiction.

Music

Film

Television

Gaming

See also

Wikisource has original text related to this article:

References

  1. ↑ Gardner, Martin; The Annotated Alice, 1998 (updated, Lewis Carroll ; with illustrations by John Tenniel ; introduction; Gardner, notes by Martin (1999). The annotated Alice : Alice's adventures in Wonderland & Through the looking glass (Definitive ed.). New York: Norton. ISBN 0393048470.)
  2. ↑ Carroll's parody of Howitt's poem accessed 3 October 2007
  3. ↑ DiTerlizzi, based on the poem by Mary Howitt ; with illustrations by Tony (2002). The spider and the fly (1st ed.). New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers. ISBN 978-0-689-85289-3.
  4. ↑ "The Spider and the Fly". Book Description. Amazon.com. Retrieved 24 November 2012.
  5. ↑ Lawrence, Kristen. "Arachnitect". Halloween Carols Website / Music. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
  6. ↑ "The Fable of the Spider and the Fly". IMDb. Retrieved 13 November 2012.
  7. ↑ "The Spider and the Fly (2006)". Theiapolis Cinema. Theiapolis. Retrieved 24 November 2012. *Sources: Playtone Productions, Universal Pictures

External links

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