Walt Whitman's A Noiseless Patient Spider
Walt Whitman was one of the most remarkable American poets. The revolutionary poet, Walt Whitman, was the ignition in a literary explosion. Whitman set the archetype for free verse poetry; one of his poems, “A Noiseless Patient Spider” demonstrates this style.
Walt Whitman was born on May 31, 1819 in West Hills, New York. He lived an indigent childhood; his father worked as both a farmer and a carpenter in order to support Whitman and his seven siblings. When he was three, Whitman and his family moved to Brooklyn so that his father could work in real estate. In Brooklyn, Whitman had a proper education until he was nine years old. After this time, he began to instruct himself by studying literature in the library; he read books by authors such …show more content…
The poem is a short, free-verse poem in two stanzas that uses Whitman's observation of the activity of a spider as an opportunity to examine the activity of the poet's soul (A). Like a spider spinning its web, the isolated soul tries to project from within itself something that will enable it to connect with the rest of the universe (Whitman, Walt. A). The first stanza describes how the poet is observing a spider. In the first line, the poet notes how silent the spider is, and how it shows no hurry as it stands on the cliff that overlooks lower-lying land or water. The spider is on its own; no other life is apparent around it. The poet then observes (line 3) how the spider begins to explore its environment by putting out its fine silk threads, manufactured within its own body, to form a web. In the last line of the first stanza, the poet continues to observe this process, which goes on seemingly without end as the spider goes about its self-appointed task. From the description of the activity of the spider in the first stanza, the poet now turns his attention to himself and directly addresses his own soul. When a poet addresses an abstract entity in this manner it is known as an apostrophe. Through this apostrophe, the poet compares his soul to the spider. Just as the spider stood in isolation, so does the poet's soul. It is surrounded by the huge, infinite
Walt Whitman was born on May 31, 1819 in West Hills, New York. He lived an indigent childhood; his father worked as both a farmer and a carpenter in order to support Whitman and his seven siblings. When he was three, Whitman and his family moved to Brooklyn so that his father could work in real estate. In Brooklyn, Whitman had a proper education until he was nine years old. After this time, he began to instruct himself by studying literature in the library; he read books by authors such …show more content…
The poem is a short, free-verse poem in two stanzas that uses Whitman's observation of the activity of a spider as an opportunity to examine the activity of the poet's soul (A). Like a spider spinning its web, the isolated soul tries to project from within itself something that will enable it to connect with the rest of the universe (Whitman, Walt. A). The first stanza describes how the poet is observing a spider. In the first line, the poet notes how silent the spider is, and how it shows no hurry as it stands on the cliff that overlooks lower-lying land or water. The spider is on its own; no other life is apparent around it. The poet then observes (line 3) how the spider begins to explore its environment by putting out its fine silk threads, manufactured within its own body, to form a web. In the last line of the first stanza, the poet continues to observe this process, which goes on seemingly without end as the spider goes about its self-appointed task. From the description of the activity of the spider in the first stanza, the poet now turns his attention to himself and directly addresses his own soul. When a poet addresses an abstract entity in this manner it is known as an apostrophe. Through this apostrophe, the poet compares his soul to the spider. Just as the spider stood in isolation, so does the poet's soul. It is surrounded by the huge, infinite