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"Sweet Echo, sweetest nymph, that liv'st unseen
Within thy aery shell
By slow Meander's margent green.
And in the violet-embroidered vale,
Where the love-lorn nightingale
Nightly to thee her sad song mourneth well;
Canst thou not tell me of a gentle pair
That likes thy Narcissus are?
Oh, if thou have
Hid them in some flowery cave,
Tell me but where,
Sweet queen of parly, daughter of the sphere,
So may'st thou be translated to the skies,
And give resounding grace to all heaven's harmonies."
This lovely poetry is from Milton's Lady's Song in Comus. We have named the elegant lady spider in Haiku's photograph (above, look closely!) Echo, for she has fallen in love with the Narcissus in our garden. This spider is most likely the descendant of Angelique, who lived many years ago in this same garden within the sweet pink cup of an Angelique tulip. She is a fascinating spider called Misumena vatia, or more commonly, the Goldenrod Spider. She has the ability to change her coloring slightly to match her host flower, wherein she sits in wait for a nectar gathering insect. She is probably the only species of spider that Haiku would approach for a close-up.
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photographs by Haiku, May 4, 2007 1) Misumena vatia (goldenrod spider) on Poet's Narcissus 2) Color-changing Day Dream Tulips in yellow phase (nothing to do with the story, just so pretty!)