Arachnid in searching

A Noiseless Patient Spider

Walt Whitman

(1819-1892)

A noiseless patient spider,

I marked where on a little promontory it stood isolated,

Marked how to explore the vacant vast surrounding,

It launched forth filament, 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 to

Till the bridge you will need be formed, till the ductile

anchor hold,

Till the gossamer thread you fling catch somewhere, O

my soul.

Alright, lets get right into it.

Theme: I think the purpose of this poem is to exaggeration the importance of feeling like you belong somewhere.

In the first stanza, the author creates a metaphor between a spider and his soul (named in the next stanza). Whitman tells how this spider gazes on the infinite space around it and begins to spin a web, trying to make a home for itself. Spinning, and spinning, and spinning, giving all of its effort into this mission.

In the second stanza, the author tells more of the feeling of the search. Telling how in the vast emptiness.; trying to find a sturdy, strong place where it can feel some belonging. It gives its entire self into trying to catch this somewhere, until something holds and it can be at peace.