Noiseless Patient Spider

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Loneliness can feel isolating, but oddly, it’s the one thing that unites us all. Searching for connections can be exhausting, just like the spider building its web. Although it takes up to an hour to build, the web is destroyed after gusts of wind or rain. This can cause distress and helplessness in the idea of starting all over again. Friendships are the same, the search for intimacy, only for it to fail, is terrifying. It can feel isolating and exhausting to search for people that don’t desire your effort. Walt Whitman’s poem “A Noiseless Patient Spider” is a proper description of the powerlessness of failed friendships and the distress they cause. The imagery of the spider tirelessly building her web, people put forth extreme amounts of effort for others, only to be let down. The spider “ever tirelessly” (Whitman) “unreeling” her webs mirrors individuals reaching out. It’s not guaranteed that the effort will be reciprocated, and anticipation can be exhausting. Friendships that are lost are like the webs that fade away in the rain. Whitman describes the spider as “ceaselessly musing”, comparable to the way people search for people that appreciate every bit of you. Betrayal by those close to you can feel like falling from a ledge and the web holding you together breaks apart. …show more content…

Obstacles and challenges in our personal lives are omnipresent. Whitman’s poem serves as a reminder to practice empathy in our relationships. The speaker calls out “O my soul” to the spider, showing that they relate to her struggle. As human beings, it’s natural to experience loneliness and the emotional toll intimate connections have on us. Isolation can present itself, both emotionally and physically. It can create rifts in our friendships, however there’s satisfaction in knowing this isn’t an atypical

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