Selected Poems (Aiken)/The Wedding

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THE WEDDING
At noon, Tithonus, withered by his singing,Climbing the oatstalk with his hairy legs,Met grey Arachne, poisoned and shrunk downBy her own beauty; pride had shrivelled both.In the white web—where seven flies hung wrapped—She heard his footstep; hurried to him; bound him;Enshrouded him in silk; then poisoned him.Twice shrieked Tithonus, feebly; then was still.Arachne loved him. Did he love Arachne?She watched him with red eyes, venomous sparks,And the furred claws outspread . . . "O sweet Tithonus!Darling! Be kind, and sing that song again!Shake the bright web again with that deep fiddling!Are you much poisoned? sleeping? do you dream?Darling Tithonus!"
            And Tithonus, weaklyMoving one hairy shin against the otherWithin the silken sack, contrived to fiddleA little tune, half-hearted: "Shrewd Arachne!Whom pride in beauty withered to this shapeAs pride in singing shrivelled me to mine— ​Unwrap me, let me go—and let me limp,With what poor strength your venom leaves me, downThis oatstalk, and away."
            Arachne, angry,Stung him again, twirling him with rough paws,The red eyes keen. "What! You would dare to leave me?Unkind Tithonus! Sooner I'll kill and eat youThan let you go. But sing that tune again—So plaintive was it!"
          And Tithonus faintlyMoved the poor fiddles, which were growing cold,And sang: "Arachne, goddess envied of gods,Beauty's eclipse eclipsed by angry beauty,Have pity, do not ask the withered heartTo sing too long for you! My strength goes out,Too late we meet for love. O be contentWith friendship, which the noon sun once may kindleTo give one flash of passion, like a dewdrop,Before it goes! . . . Be reasonable,—Arachne!"
Arachne heard the song grow weaker, dwindleTo first a rustle, and then half a rustle,And last a tick, so small no ear could hear itSave hers, a spider's ear. And her small heart,(Rusted away, like his, to a pinch of dust,)Gleamed once, like his, and died. She clasped him tightlyAnd sunk her fangs in him. Tithonus dead,She slept awhile, her last sensation gone;Woke from the nap, forgetting him; and ate him.

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