In “To the Insect of the Gossamer”
Smith uses the image of a spider web to illustrate the experience of poetry
through the eyes of a poet. The spider begins as something “Small” and
“viewless” and is transformed through the poets lens into a “Living Atom.” This
shift in perspective is marked by the dashes before “Living Atom” and after
“voyage.” The fragile, delicate, nature of the spider web is what makes it
worthy of appreciation. However, it is this same quality that makes it
susceptible to the keen Swifts pursuit and shadow of denser clouds. Again, the
shift in perspective on the subject is marked with dashes before “Alas..” and
after “sail!”. Just as the “Gossamer” threads are destroyed by nature, the
“golden thread that Fancy weaves,” is easily dissolved by “Sorrows touch.” Beauty
and romance is pulled from “Life’s dull realities” in much the same way that
the Gossamer threads are pulled by the Spider through its interaction with
nature. However, just as nature provides the means for the Gossamer to be
overshadowed and destroyed, Life’s dull realities are often the source of grief
and frustration to the poet.
great reading! Smith's poem also connects the condition of the insect to that of the "young and visionary poet" (11), but the notes suggest a poet who is neither young nor suffering under the same kind of delusions as the poet represented in the poem. What do the notes do to our understanding of the poet's condition? What kind of poet is posited in the notes, compared to the poem itself?
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