Sonnet XLVIII. I saw, sweet Licia, when the Spider ran

Giles Fletcher (1586?–1623)

I SAW, sweet LICIA, when the Spider ran

Within your house, to weave a worthless web;

You present were, and feared her with your fan:

So that, amazèd, speedily she fled.

She, in your house, such sweet perfumes did smell;

And heard the Muses with their notes refined:

Thus, filled with envy, could no longer dwell;

But straight returned, and at your house repined.

“Then tell me, Spider, why of late I saw

Thee lose thy poison, and thy bowels gone?

Did these enchant and keep thy limbs in awe,

And made thy forces to be small or none?

No, no! Thou didst, by chance, my LICIA see;

Who, for her look, MINERVA seemed to be.”