A Noiseless Patient Spider

A Noiseless Patient Spider (1868)
by Walt Whitman
36374A Noiseless Patient SpiderWalt Whitman

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 launched forth filament, filament, filament, out of itself.
Ever unreeling them, ever tirelessly speeding them.

And you O my soul where you stand,
Surrounded, detatched, 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.

This work was published before January 1, 1929, and is in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago.

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