The Spider and Soul in Walt Whitmans A Noiseless Patient...

The Spider and Soul in Walt Whitmans A Noiseless Patient Spider Works Cited Not Included In â€Å"A Noiseless Patient Spider†, Walt Whitman compares the images of a spider creating a web to catch its prey to his own soul. In the first stanza, he describes the spider creating its web. In the second stanza, he begins to describe his own soul searching for something it needs. Throughout the poem, Whitman is relating the spider to the human soul by showing how both would pursue and capture what they need to continue to exist in this life. In line one, â€Å"A noiseless, patient spider† shows a spider that seems to be waiting for what it is searching for. Perhaps it is waiting for a chance to strike at its prey if it were detected in†¦show more content†¦The words â€Å"launched† and â€Å"speeding† could mean that the spider must act quickly in order to catch its prey. The verbs â€Å"venturing, throwing, seeking† (line 8) may show how the soul searches for what it needs to survive. To venture is to do something daring or perhaps something that may involve danger. â€Å"Throwing† shows the soul, much like the spider, casting its lines as a connection to whatever surrounds it in order to find what it is looking for. â€Å"Seeking shows that the soul is looking for what it needs. Perhaps what the souls is looking for is what it needs to make the person feel complete. The poet also decides to describe the spiders’ and the soul’s surroundings. The spider is seen on â€Å"a little promontory† as â€Å"it stood isolated† (line 2). The spider also â€Å"Mark’d how to explore the vacant vast surrounding† (line 3). The poet is showing that the spider, though the natural world around him carries on without end, the spider does not notice it. The spider is isolated by the fact that he is so focused upon obtaining his prey, that he does not care what is going on around him. In other words, the spider is not detracted from his quest by his surroundings to continue his own life. The poet then writes that his soul is â€Å"Surrounded, detached, in measureless oceans of space† (line 7). The poet, like the spider, is surrounded by the outside world. The outside world contains many different ideas andShow MoreRelatedEssay about Transcendentalism in the Poems of Whitman2109 Words   |  9 PagesTranscend entalism in the Poems of Whitman      Ã‚  Ã‚   From looking at the titles of Walt Whitmans vast collection of poetry in Leaves of Grass one would be able to surmise that the great American poet wrote about many subjects -- expressing his ideas and thoughts about everything from religion to Abraham Lincoln. Quite the opposite is true, Walt Whitman wrote only about a single subject which was so powerful in the mind of the poet that it consumed him to the point that whatever he wrote echoedRead MoreResist Much, Obey Little1375 Words   |  6 PagesResist Much, Obey Little Kenneth M. Price asserts that â€Å"Walt Whitman is a foundational figure in American culture.† This statement certainly holds true, as the transcendental â€Å"father of free verse† gained his place as one of the 19th century’s greatest American writers after self-publishing his most renowned work, Leaves of Grass, multiple times, each time with added pieces and revisions of previous ones. The novel, inclusive of his widely recognized poem â€Å"Song of Myself†, composed of fifty-twoRead MoreWalt Whitman and Emily Dickinson808 Words   |  4 PagesWalt Whitman and Emily Dickinson both had different and similar views, which influenced how they wrote their poetry. Their social context, life experiences, and gender are reflected in their poetry. Emily Dickinson focused a lot on death and her struggles of being a woman during her time. Her poems often described the inner state of mind. Waltman attempted to combine universal themes with individual feelin gs and experiences, such as his personal experiences with the Civil War. Whitman and DickinsonRead MoreFive Walt Whitman poems. Metaphors, diction, syntax, form, rhyme scheme, and other literary techniques.5570 Words   |  23 PagesWalt Whitmans poetry is relatively formless and his random patterns have a significant effect on the meaning evoked from the poems. Whitman has a constant theme of the link between nature/natural experience and humans. He expresses his emotions and opinions through his poems. Some of his poems are very personable, which makes them very easier to understand and more enjoyable to read. Crossing Brooklyn Ferry is a poem about the sharing of experiences. All humans are somehow connected through the