"The Spider and the Fly" is a poem by Mary Howitt (1799–1888), published in 1828. The first line of the poem is Will you walk into my parlour?' said the Spider to the Fly." The story tells of a cunning spider who entraps a fly into its web through the use of seduction and manipulation. The poem is a cautionary tale against those who use flattery and charm to disguise their true intentions.

The poem was published with the subtitle "A new Version of an old Story" in The New Year’s Gift and Juvenile Souvenir, which has a publication year of 1829 on its title page but, as the title would suggest, was released before New Year’s Day and was reviewed in magazines as early as October 1828.For example, in The Gentleman‘s Magazine, Oct. 1828 (in HathiTrust).

The opening line is one of the most recognized and quoted first lines in all of English verse. Often misquoted as "Step into my parlour" or "Come into my parlour", it has become an aphorism, often used to indicate a false offer of help or friendship that is in fact a trap. The line has been used and parodied numerous times in various works of fiction.

When Lewis Carroll was rewriting Alice's Adventures Under Ground for publication as Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, he replaced a negro minstrel songGardner, Martin; The Annotated Alice, 1998 () with "The Mock Turtle's Song" (also known as the "Lobster Quadrille"), a parody of Howitt's poem that mimics the meter and rhyme scheme and parodies the first line, but not the subject matter, of the original.Carroll's parody of Howitt's poem. Accessed 3 October 2007.

This poem is often associated with gothic literature, exploring themes of seduction and manipulation. Howitt uses these themes combined with a child friendly allegory to portray predator vs prey.

Text

Adaptations

Cinema 1916 film featuring Robert B. Mantell 1949 British crime film 1923 cartoon: theatrical short by Aesop Fables Studio.

Music 1930 song by Barbecue Bob 1938 song by Fats Waller, Andy Razaf, and J. C. Johnson 1965 song by The Rolling Stones 1989 song by The Cure ("Lullaby") references the poem 1992 song by London After Midnight 2004 song by The Paper Chase Illustration An illustrated version by Tony DiTerlizzi was a 2003 Caldecott Honor Book.

See also

Cultural depictions of spiders

References

External links Text of the poem, along with a Lewis Carroll parody of it