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, surrounded, 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 anchorhold;
Till the gossamer thread you fling, catch somewhere, O my Soul.
In his poem, “A Noiseless Patient Spider,” Walt Whitman relates a speaker who, upon observing a spider, reveals a truth about human nature. Authors have a responsibility, according to William Dean Howells, to convey the truth about human nature. Howells states that “the time is coming...when each new author, each new artist, will be considered...in his relation to the human nature, known to us all, which is his privilege, his high duty, to interpret.” This is concisely what Whitman does in his poem—provides an honest portrayal of the common man’s longing for a sense of order out of chaos or nothingness, and for a sense of belonging to something larger than himself. Whitman’s poem satisfies the standard of realism Howells articulates in its simplistic comparison of a mere spider to an element of human nature, in its authentic portrayal of an innate longing of mankind, in its finding value and significance even in a spider’s efforts, and in its conveying that finding meaning and significance is an individual, creative task.
Howells asserts that the majority of humans have not applied our efforts to appreciate the beauty of humanity—the raw, flawed, genuineness of the human soul. Howells states, “Hitherto the mass of common men have been afraid to apply their own simplicity, naturalness, and honesty to the appreciation of the beautiful.” Whitman’s poem is a simplistic comparison of an element of human nature with a spider’s attempt to weave its web: “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, detached, in measureless oceans of space” (Whitman 3-7). The speaker is observing the spider’s exploration of the vastness around him, relentlessly casting out his thread that it may connect to something so it can ultimately create its web. In the next verse, the speaker addresses his own soul and compares his efforts and desire to the spider’s efforts. While many would consider this poem a mere commonplace analogy, it truly depicts the beauty Howells speaks of through this raw revealing of one of man’s innate desires to create connection and order, to have an anchor hold in one’s own life.
Another element Howells endorses is that of realism versus idealism. In response to idealism, Howells states, “Well, it is artificial...You’ll find the books full of [artificiality], and scarcely a trace of [authenticity] in any of them.” Much like Howells espouses the presentation of real human existence that would “seem true to the chance passer” in the public square as opposed to an idealized misrepresentation of human existence, Whitman presents a true picture of the human soul’s longing to make sense of one’s life when he compares the spider’s act to his own efforts: “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” (8-10). This portrayal of man, in contrast with the ease in which nature seems to connect itself to something greater while he himself is struggling with the task of connecting to his greater purposes in the world he lives in, is far from an ideal picture of the human soul. Though this portrayal is not glamorous, it is a simple, natural, and honest truth of human existence, a nature known to us all so all can relate. Howells would admire Whitman’s interpreting genuine human nature and revealing it with such transparency.
According to Howells, Whitman’s poem is evidence of a true realist. The elements of Howells’ claim that “in life [the true realist] finds nothing insignificant; all tells for destiny and character; nothing that God made is contemptible,” resound in Whitman’s portrayal of nature and the human soul. His poem begins with a seemingly insignificant incident of a mere spider trying to find a place to spin its web. Yet the speaker sees value in this incident, transferring his observation from nature to humanity. Whitman does not brush off mankind’s longing for connections in the world as insignificant. He even hinges a universal theme of human existence on nature—a simple spider seeking a place in the vastness to spin its web becomes a metaphor that symbolizes the soul’s searching for meaning and significance. Whitman upholds Howells’ philosophy of a true realist in that he sees nothing as insignificant—neither the spider nor this element of human nature that has been laid bare; he relates wisdom and truth about destiny and character in an unlikely nature metaphor, seeing nothing in nature, not even a spider, as contemptible but rather seeing a parallel between it and his soul.
Finally, Howells suggests that literature claiming to be realism but only presenting facts, or an established image of human life and nature, or simply prescribing human existence rather than portraying the immense creativeness and individuality, will cease to be realism: “When realism becomes false to itself, when it heaps up facts merely, and maps life instead of picturing it, realism will perish.” Thus, Howells urges authors to be true to realism, to portray the truth of the creativity and vastness of possibilities for each human life. Whitman does just this. In describing the spider as being isolated and casting out thread from within himself to connect to something, Whitman reveals that this is an individual endeavor, a process requiring individual creativity. This lays the foundation for us to understand when the speaker switches focus to the human soul that our efforts to connect to the world and find meaning and significance must be a personal and individual effort—it must come from out of oneself as the effort of casting filament came out of the spider itself. No human can discover the meaning and significance of life for another; no human can make connections to the world and one’s environment for someone else; and no two human’s gossamer thread will catch in the exact same places—no two human’s discoveries of meaning, significance, and connection will create identical webs. Whitman realizes there is no prescribed web of human existence to portray, and wisely relates a true picture of human nature and the creativity and individuality of each soul’s quest in life.
Howells argues that the establishment of prescribed artistry has bound authors and artists far too long. He endorses realism in place of traditional idealism: “Realism seeks now, to widen the bounds of sympathy, to level every barrier against aesthetic freedom, to escape from the paralysis of tradition.” Whitman’s “A Noiseless Patient Spider” accomplishes these things as truth lives in the reality Whitman presents of mankind’s innate need to make connections and discover one’s place in the world. Human nature causes mankind to want not to live as an island or disconnected from his environment, but to have a sense of order and belonging to something larger than himself. Through a simple comparison of a spider and human nature, an authentic image of mankind’s longing for connection and significance, through revealing value and meaning even in a mere spider’s efforts, and conveying that finding meaning and significance is purely an individual and creative process, Whitman truly exemplifies in “A Noiseless Patient Spider” Howells’ description of a realist; “He feels in every nerve the equality of things and the unity of men; his soul is exalted, not by vain shows and shadows and ideals, but by realities, in which alone the truth lives.”
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