“The spider hath woven his web in the royal palace of the Cæsars,
The owl standeth sentinel on the watch-towers of Afrasiab!”
Sadi.
“The lonely spider’s thin grey pall
Waves slowly widening o’er the wall;
The bat builds in his harem bower;
And, in the fortress of his power,
The owl usurps the beacon-tower;
The wild dog howls o’er the fountain’s brim,
With baffled thirst, and famine, grim;