A line by line analysis and notes on this this poem. This will help you understand what the poem means in simple terms.

1. A Noiseless, Patient Spider
Walt Whitman

2. Discussion When have you
felt detached
from people or
the world
around you?

3. A noiseless patient spider,
I mark’d where on a little promontory it stood isolated,
Mark’d how to explore the vacant vast surrounding,
It launch’d forth 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 them,
Till the bridge you will need be form’d, till the ductile anchor hold,
Till the gossamer thread you fling catch somewhere, O my soul.
A Noiseless, Patient Spider
Walt Whitman

4. Definitions
mark’d - marked
(pronounced as one
syllable). took note of.
promontory - point of land
that juts out into water.
filament - thread.
isolated - alone
muse - think
cease - stop
venture - to go out on
some form of mission
ductile - able to be
drawn out into a thin
wire.
fling - throw
gossamer - the fine
substance of cobwebs

5. ● ‘filament’ is repeated to show how many strands the
spider is launching.
● ‘out of himself’ shows that the threads are part of his
identity.
● The spider does this for a very long time. It is obviously
searching for something important.
A noiseless patient spider,
I mark’d where on a little promontory it stood isolated,
Mark’d how to explore the vacant vast surrounding,
It launch’d forth filament, filament, filament, out of itself,
Ever unreeling them, ever tirelessly speeding them.
Stanza 1

6. ● The speaker now starts speaking about himself - the
deepest part of himself: his soul.
● Oxymoron: ‘surrounded, detached’. This shows that
although he is surrounded by things, he has no
meaningful connection to any of it.
● Even though he senses this estrangement from the world
he is as persistent as the spider in reaching out.
And you O my soul where you stand,
Surrounded, detached, in measureless oceans of space,
Ceaselessly musing, venturing, throwing, seeking the spheres to connect them,
Till the bridge you will need be form’d, till the ductile anchor hold,
Till the gossamer thread you fling catch somewhere, O my soul.
Stanza 2

7. Final Word
The speaker is, like the spider, alone. He is isolated not
because he is on a promontory but because he is
metaphorically detached from all that surrounds him. This
could refer to his emotional or intellectual or even romantic
connection to other people. It could also refer to his spiritual
connection with the world. The vagueness allows the reader
to interpret the poem according to their own experience of
detachment.

8. Questions
1. Quote a line from the poem
that shows us that the
speaker feels alone.
2. What does the speaker
compare himself to in the
poem?
3. Name three ways in which
they are similar.
4. What does the word
‘gossamer’ tell us about the
way the speaker sees
connections between
people?
5. Why is the word ‘filament’
repeated three times?
6. The title of the poem can be
considered metaphorical.
Comment on each word of the
title. (4)
7. Explain the effectiveness of the
metaphor “Till the bridge you
will need be form’d”