Edward Taylor (1642-1729) was a New England Puritan. Born to a nonconformist in Leicestershire, he sailed to Boston in 1668 to escape the persecution of Puritans. Edward studied at Harvard College and eventually became the minister of a church in Westfield, Massachusetts. Taylor stayed in Massachusetts for the rest of his life, marrying twice and having fourteen children. By the time he died in 1729, he wrote five poems. Although against his wishes, Edward Taylor's poems were published two years after his death. His poetry often held many biblical references in forms of metaphors (Anderson, 1993, p. 45). The poem "Upon a Spider Catching a Fly " is a very good example.
Such a seemingly straight forward poem holds many deeper meanings; hidden behind the writer's wonderful use of metaphors. This poem, although straightforward, holds many forms of imagery and metaphors that hide deeper meanings. This poem speaks of a spider that creates a web, and uses this web to catch its prey. Its first prey consists of a wasp. The wasp lands on the web, realizing what it's done, it tries to escape. When the spider tries to attack, the wasp fights back, causing the spider to back off and wait for an easier prey. When the wasp leaves, a fly takes its place. Since the fly has no defense mechanism to protect itself, the wasp immediately makes its attack, killing the fly instantly. As you read further into the story you start to understand the true meaning behind the story. We discover that the poem is warning us of what Satan is always trying to do. The spider, who is Satan, is always trying to capture us into his web of temptation. But God is able to break that web and save us. .
There are many symbols in this poem. Firstly the spider symbolizes Satan, because just like the spider, he spins his own form of webs (temptation) for us. The wasp in this poem represents someone who is a strong believer in God and is able to stand up and fight against sin; eventually escaping the "web ".