PTSW : For my returning

I heard this on NPR's In Character recently. (Thanks for the tip, Tricia!) It is a love poem written for his wife by E. B. White. White knew spiders. After all, he created one of the most famous arachnids of all, and one of my favorite characters in literature, Charlotte A. Cavatica.

Natural History
The spider, dropping down from twig,
Unfolds a plan of her devising,
A thin premeditated rig
To use in rising.

And all that journey down through space,
In cool descent and loyal hearted,
She spins a ladder to the place
From where she started.

Thus I, gone forth as spiders do
In spider's web a truth discerning,
Attach one silken thread to you
For my returning.

-E.B. White

Y0u can hear an interesting discussion of White and his famous spider.