A Noiseless Patient Spider By Walt Whitman

Nick Osbahr

A Noiseless Patient Spider By Walt Whitman

This poem has become one of my favorite poems. At the start , you learn about a spider, silent and patient, waiting and trying to figure out how to explore his surroundings. Whitman then begins the second stanza with “And you O my soul where you stand,” and everything starts to become clear. Whitman creates this metaphor of this miniscule spider in the enormous world, which has only gotten bigger since he had written this poem. Whitman continues with “Surrounded, detached, in measureless oceans of space,”continuing describing that our souls are surrounded by empty, isolating space. Whit then writes that our souls are “Ceaselessly musing, venturing, throwing, seeking the spheres to connect them,” explaining that the loneliness our souls have to endure is because we are just trying to find the one special person who we belong with, or in this case our actual soul mate. We just have to continue living life until things fall into place and we can finally connect, or at whitman states “Till the bridge you will need be form’d, till the ductile anchor hold,” and when we can create this moldable foundation that can hold us together through anything.

Whitman finishes the poem with the line “Till the gossamer thread you fling catch somewhere, O my soul.” bringing in the whole spider analogy back into play . He uses the idea of the spider as a representation of the soul to emphasis the idea of the isolated soul inside a huge world, but he could have easily used something smaller, for example , and ant. Whitman uses the spider because they are so misunderstood. Spiders like love and destiny, are very important to life and the world, but at the same time they are sometimes hated, and sometimes oppressed, unwanted and killed.

Whitman created an amazing love poem that at first glance seems to not even be close 

to what people view as a love poem, but in deeper meaning is one. Whitman created a 

misunderstood love poem; he created a spider.

My life as a Legal Runaway

Describe a meaningful event or experience and how it has changed or affected the person you are. 250-500 words

I have become who I am today like a select few of my peers. I grew up without a father,I more places than i can count on one, make that two, hands. I grew up dealing with the normalities of elementary school: being the new kid, having to make friends, being alone at recess for a little bit, several times throughout my grade school years.  I have grown and strived to become the me that I am today, and the problems I have faced are what have given me the courage and drive to live on. But throughout all these events, one thing was constant, I constantly wished for a normal life. I constantly wanted to have the normal life I saw on the TV, and in the lives of the many people who were once my friends. I wished to live with my parents, to have a father that I knew the identity of, to not have to wait for a supervised visit to see my sisters. I wanted to live in one city, in one house, go to one school, to not have to say goodbye to all my friends and restart again. It made me wish for something stable.

My childhood was always filled with uncertainty. I never knew when I would be onto my next move, which always made saying goodbye even harder. They would always start the same. My alarm clock,an egg shaped and glowing blue, sits on the floor going off. I rise from my single air mattress leaning against the wall on the floor; we didn't have enough room for a real mattress or a frame (we could only have what could fit in the truck bed). I would put on my clothes, grabbing my shirt from the closet and my jeans from a tub on the floor. Made my way through the dawn lit living room to the kitchen. I heat up some french toast sticks and syrup,eat and head to the bathroom. I grab my mint toothpaste, brush, and rinse with my bubble gum mouthwash. I run a brush through my thick curly hair, grab my backpack,and head for the door. My grandpa follows behind, closes the door, hops inside the truck, and starts it. I struggle in, get my seatbelt, and close the door. We pull out of the driveway of our rental house, and drive to the school. I look out the window watching the houses pass by. We pull into the school drop off area, and he looks at me.

“Nick, give this to your teacher today. We have to move in two weeks.” he says.

“But I like it here. Can this be the one where we stay? Please?” I plea.

“The job’s over.I do too good of a job.” He chuckles. I get out of the truck, and head to my classroom. My teacher is at her desk when I enter. I walk up to them, and give her the note. They read it and turns to me.

“Well, what a shame that I have to lose such a bright student like you. Do you really have to leave us?” They ask.

“I want to, but I just can’t” I always respond.

She makes the announcement two the class, and everyone gets sad.

Two weeks pass by, and it's the last few minutes of school. I am bombarded with hugs and gifts for my friends, like a homemade treasure box, and goodbyes. The bell rings and I try to hold back the tears as I walk to the truck while they all scream goodbye as I enter. We are all packed up and we drive off. I start sobbing as we pull onto the interstate. And the whole thing start over again. Every one of these moments has caused me to become who I am today.

Because of my childhood I'm a person who is socially adapted at being the new kid, who can make friends easily. I have transformed for a shy introvert, to an outspoken extrovert who is always ready for change.I am a person who is in constant need for adventure. I used to believe that my whole life was just one big mess that I wish I could have changes. But as an adult, I now realize that I wouldn't change it for anything in the world, well maybe for a cheesecake; I am a cheesecake addict - I guess that's better than meth.

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Well, wasn't this an experience. I enjoy writing, but for some reason I dreaded writing this. Even though I really did not want to write this essay,which might determine my future, I am proud of the final product.It conveys my story, and most off all it conveys me,who I am. I only wish I had incorporated the humor more through out the essay,but overall it is something I would be proud to hang on my fridge with a golden star.

Poetry Response

Nick Osbahr

The Coming of Wisdom with Time

William Butler Yeats

This poem, though with a short length, is filled with a powerful meaning. It discusses that everyone is told lies in their youth, and as we mature, and enter into adulthood,we understand that these are just lies we were told.  The poem compares the trivial ¨truths” that we are told as leaves to as  plants, and that as we mature, the leaves fall off, so ¨Now  I may wither into the truth.¨ The poem uses the truth as a metaphor for adulthood, and that all the childish things we are told just ¨wither” away as we enter and live among others in the real world.

The poem declares that ¨though leaves are many, the root is one;¨ which I felt as if it is explaining that there are many ¨truths” we are told. and with these truths, there is always one spot to where we get this information, and that is from someone who we trust. Along with that,  Yeats uses an extended metaphor of a flower as the life of a person emerging into adulthood. Here he uses the flower as a beautiful lie, while he uses the root as the ugly truth.

Yeats also addresses the stereotypical idea that older people are the wises. He explains throughout the poem that peoples youth is wasted due to the lies, and safety net of beliefs, people place on and around their children. He also explains that as the years of youth wither away, the truth is slowly revealed, causing older people to be wser than the youth, because there is no rose colored glass causing the world to be viewed differently than it already is.