"Or in memories draped by the beneficent spider"
Eliot seemed unsure of how to state this line: he writes first "those treasures over which creeps the beneficient spiders"(V. Eliot 77), then he changed it to "Nor in memories which will busy beneficent spiders"(V. Eliot 77). He wavered between "industrious" and "kindly" as words to descibe the spiders, then crossed both out, and made the "spiders" singular.
He then decided on "draped" for a word for what the spider did. This essentially changes the meaning of the sentence: when before the spiders were sorting through the memories, now one spider is bestowing the memories.
This website the work of Abigail L. Bunting
He then decided on "draped" for a word for what the spider did. This essentially changes the meaning of the sentence: when before the spiders were sorting through the memories, now one spider is bestowing the memories.
This website the work of Abigail L. Bunting