Final Poetry Essay

Nicholas Jerrems

Professor Wexler

English 495esm

September 13, 2012

Poetry Analysis

The transcendentalists of the late 19th century were known for their philosophical exploration of experiences outside of the physical realm. This type of search is evident in Walt Whitman’s A Noiseless Patient Spider. Whitman’s poem explores themes relating to the meaning of life, or rather, the search for it. According to an essay from Papers on Language and Literature "For Whitman, the very process of questioning, searching, and existing in uncertainty is the vital element of spiritual health, as opposed to certainty of the soul's destination" (Smith). Explicating this poem would prove to be quite fruitless from a strictly formalist school of thought, so it seems necessary to adopt a transcendentalist lens in order to fully appreciate the texts meaning. This meaning not only exists in its content, but its form as well. In order to explicate Whitman’s poem, it is necessary to focus on its imagery, free verse form, and its objective correlatives.

Imagery plays a vital role in Whitman’s poem. From the very first line, “A noiseless patient spider” (1), whitman is utilizing a small physical image to eventually convey a large spiritual experience. The poem flows thematically in the shape of a triangle. We start at the top focusing on a small image, and move down to the large open base at the bottom. The spider is nestled on a peak of rocks, or as Whitman put it, “promontory” (2). Throughout the first five lines of the poem, it would even seem as if the point of the poem may be no different from that of a haiku’s; to convey a simple image. Yet understanding the poem’s context in relation to the literary movement of the time should nudge us towards the belief that this imagery isn’t merely for picture painting, but for metaphorical representation. In line three, the spider’s environment is noted as being “vacant” (3).  Such a strong word has some kind of importance-even if that importance isn’t clearly visible yet. With well thought-out poetry, no single word can be taken for granted. Vacancy relates to emptiness. Emptiness in the human experience tends to relate to sadness and confusion. One simple word can have that much meaning. The fourth and fifth lines describe the spider’s action of “[launching] forth filament, filament, filament, out of itself/Ever unreeling them, ever tirelessly speeding them” (4-5). The action of “launching” suggests an urgency or importance in the action. There is a certain level of anxiety coming from the image that has been painted for the reader. The sixth line is the first time the author refers to a human quality by referring to their “soul” (6).  The spider imagery is used in a metaphorical sense to portray the author’s soul.  This sort of abstract relationship is further emphasized through the use of the poem’s form.

Free verse form tends to seem like the lazy way out. This is not the case. If anything, it is the exact opposite for anyone who has attempted to write free verse. No longer are there guidelines there to hold your hand, but you are left to the expanse openness of a blank page and your imagination. Whitman’s poem utilizes free verse form in order to create a freeing tone. The poem deals with endless expanses of space and mind, as seen in lines 7-8: “Surrounded, detached, in measureless oceans of space/Ceaselessly musing, venturing, throwing, seeking the spheres to connect them.” Therefore, the poem’s lack of an immediate sense of structure contributes to the overall feeling that there is no guidance in his search. If this poem were put into a sonnet instead, the tone would feel more constrained and limited. Whitman’s poem is a perfect example of how form can reflect the meaning. 

Now lets step away from being a stuffy formalist for a moment and get back into the liberating study of thematics through imagery. Line eight creates an image of a soul, or spider, wandering around trying to make connections amongst the “spheres” (8). The sphere seems to be a metaphor that uses the image of  a planet floating in an endless space to convey the isolation of each individual human being. The soul tries endlessly to make connections between various other souls hoping to find comfort for the existential crisis. In the next line the author uses imagery once again by showing a “bridge” (9) and “anchor” (9) as some sort of concrete solution to this endless wandering. They are the connections that give life meaning. Although it is not blatantly stated, the spider’s endless search for a place to anchor its web is similar to a human being’s search for belonging in life. The final line connects the two images of the spider and the soul by stating “Till the gossamer thread you fling catch somewhere, O my soul” (10). The author neatly ties the two together to show the correlation between searching for purpose and place in the universe.

It is important to note the use of objective correlation, whether it is intentional or not. Although the spider seems to be the inspiration for the poem, its importance lies not in its specific definition, but in the theme and emotion the spider-imagery is able to get across. This is what really makes poetry special. When a person sees something in nature and finds a way to personify through their writing, there is a sense of interconnectivity amongst things. This is certainly something that someone like Whitman would want to emphasize. By allowing the reader to discover the meaning behind the metaphors, rather than blatantly handing it to them, he engages them and allows the excitement of discovery to heighten the emotional reaction to the poem’s meaning. 

Whitman’s poems are much more than they seem. They require self discovery and participation in order to be fully realized. To approach these strictly with literary devices defeats the purpose of his poetry. According to Whitman himself, “no one will get at my verses who insists upon literary performance, or attempt at such performance, or as aiming mainly towards act or aestheticism” (592 Kennedy). What was touched upon in this essay is only skimming the surface of the poem, and I would be foolish to state that my exploring of poetic devices to describe this poem are substantial enough to convey its meaning. Although imagery, free verse form, and objective correlation are helpful in explicating this poem, they can not do it alone. Whitman’s poem is similar to a zen koan in that the meaning isn’t necessarily logical in a way that intellectuals would expect. It must be experienced. Although I did what was possible to fully explicate it to its core, like all good poetry, everyone needs to experience it for themselves.

Works Cited

Kennedy, Walker. “Walt Whitman”.The North American Review , Vol. 138, No. 331 (Jun., 1884), pp. 591-601.Published by: University of Northern Iowa. Article Stable URL: http:// www.jstor.org/stable/25118392

Smith, Ernest. "'Restless explorations': Whitman's evolving spiritual vision in Leaves of Grass." Papers on Language & Literature 43.3 (2007): 227+. General OneFile. Web. 19 Sep. 2012.

Whitman, Walt. "A Noiseless Patient Spider." 100 Best-loved Poems. By Philip Smith. New York: Dover Publications, 1995. N. pag. Print.