Whitman's A Noiseless Patient Spider

"A Noiseless Patient Spider," a poem released in Whitman's 1891, is an extended metaphor for Whitman's effort put into writing several editions of his biggest collection, Leaves of Grass. With each edition of Leaves of Grass, Whitman adds more poems to his collection. In this particular poem, the speaker compares a noiseless, patient spider to his "soul," which is always trying to make connections in the world. This is similar to Whitman's goal of making connections with his readers, and in a broader spectrum, with humanity as a whole. Just like the speaker's soul, the spider is trying to effectively build connections and create meaningful bonds, "ceaselessly musing, venturing, throwing,- seeking the spheres to connect them;/ Till the