A Noiseless, Patient Spider

A Noiseless, Patient Spider

                                                                  -Walt Whitman

A noiseless, patient spider,
I mark’d where on a little promontory it stood isolated,
Mark’d how to explore the vacant vast surrounding,
It launch’d forth filament, filament, filament out of itself,
Ever unreeling them, ever tirelessly speeding them.

And you, O my soul, where you stand,
Surrounded, detached, in measureless oceans of space,
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 above poem is one of my favorites. It is short, yet it carries multi-faceted meanings. The poem describes a spider that is noiseless, patient, and isolated—unbothered by the world around it—as it works on its web. It is engaged in the most uncertain kind of hard work: trying to shoot out countless tiny filaments ceaselessly, patiently, and tirelessly, hoping that one of them will stick to something.

Similarly, we ceaselessly muse, venture, and seek throughout our lives to achieve the heights of enlightenment and to find the meaning of life. But we often get obstructed, tired, bogged down, and bothered by the world that surrounds us. We must learn all kinds of super-perseverance from this creepy little creature.

This poem is not only about a spider. Whitman tells us that the spider is a metaphor for the human soul, which also explores and tries to connect. He describes the vulnerability of the soul in this vast realm of existence and tries to find ways to accommodate the soul—to find a place for it among the rest of the soul-filled world. Hence the references to venturing, seeking, and connecting in this measureless ocean of space. Through the use of vivid imagery and figurative language (specifically metaphor), Whitman portrays a deeper human emotion.

In essence, the poem speaks about hard work, exploration, spirituality, and the relationship between man and the natural world.