The Spider

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The Spider

This essay looks at how two poets utilize a spider in their poems for completely different purposes in Frost's "Design" and Whitman's "Noiseless Patient Spider".

1,000 words () | 2 sources | 2002 United States

Paper Summary:

This essay contrasts how poets, Robert Frost and Walt Whitman, both eloquently utilize a minute spider and turn this creature of nature into a grandiose display of life, but for opposite reasons. The author shows how Frost?s spider is a mediation of man's attempts and failures in finding order and meaning in the universe, whereas, Whitman's is a contemplation of man's attempt to fully connect to and understand the world around him.

From the paper:

?Poems, unlike prose, are direct expressions of a creator's feelings. Though a poet also makes use of metaphors and figurative speech to convey images, it is something else beyond the upper layer of language that makes a poem work. It is something that relates directly to the feelings and passions of the poet. For example, Robert Frost's poem, "Design", is an exquisite play on striking images of dark and light, offering a look into this oppressive and isolated poet's stark outlook on life. Whereas, his comrade, Walt Whitman, goes far above and beyond in both voice and metrical line with such a striking mural expansion of his optimistic view of the world around him in his poem, "Noiseless, Patient Spider".