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Works of Walt Whitman: Poems

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From: Monarch Notes
Date: 19630101
Author:Whitman, Walt

Whitman, Walt
Monarch Notes
01-01-1963
Poems

A Noiseless Patient Spider:

This poem presents a simple analogy, comparing the activity of the poet's
soul with that of a spider.

First stanza: A spider, noiseless and patient, is isolated on a
promontory, from which it explores "the vacant vast surrounding." Out of
itself, it unreels filament tirelessly.

Second stanza: Similarly, the poet's soul stands "surrounded, detached,
in measureless oceans of space," musing how to build a bridge to connect them
to himself. Like the spider, the poet's soul wants to fling a gossamer thread
that would ...

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