FREE ESSAY ON WALT WHITMAN'S "A NOISELESS PATIENT SPIDER"

WALT WHITMAN'S "A NOISELESS PATIENT SPIDER"

Walt Whitman's poem entitled "A noiseless Patient Spider." Describes a quiet spider
creating a web. The first line of the poem reads, "A noiseless patient spider" referring
to the graceful and peaceful nature of a spider. It is a creature of patience. "I mark'd
where on a little promontory it stood isolated," The speaker watches the spider carefully
and sees where it stood. It was all alone, away from any human interference. The next
line reads, " mark'd how to explore the vacant vast surrounding," The speaker notes the
spider observing his surroundings, looking for a perfect place to start his work. "It
launch'd forth filament, filament, filament, out of itself, This line describes the
spider launching the silk from itself. The repetition of the word filament implies that
the silk is launching very far. "Ever unreeling them, ever tirelessly speeding them." The
spider effortlessly creates this web in a slow and tedious process. "And you O my soul
where you stand, Surrounded, detached, in measureless oceans of space of space," refers
to the spider being surrounded by nothing before he starts working. "Ceaselessly musing,
venturing, throwing, seeking the spheres to connect them, Till the bridge you will need
be form'd, till the ductile anchor hold, Till the gossamer thread you fling catch
somewhere, O my soul." The spider is constantly creating his web. He never stops throwing
the silk out until it catches somewhere and forms a bridge with an anchor strong enough
to support him.