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" by Walt Whitman)
Which best explains the meaning of the extended metaphor in the poem?
1. The filament the spider casts is like the lonely road the speaker travels.
2. The spider expresses itself through creating webs and the speaker is envious of the spider's abilities.
3. The speaker is like a solitary spider in that both try to find ways to connect to the world around them.
4. The speaker's soul is like the spider's web because both are complicated.
