Walk Whitman: A Noiseless Patient Spider

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/45473/a-noiseless-patient-spider 

A Noiseless Patient Spider

By Walt Whitman

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.

Peace is always beautiful - Whitman

@Zen_Moments: Peace is always beautiful. ~ Walt Whitman m.twitter.com/Zen_Moments

TO THE SAYERS OF WORDS. (Leaves of Grass [1867]) - The Walt Whitman Archive

TO THE SAYERS OF WORDS. (Leaves of Grass [1867]) - The Walt Whitman Archive

19  Whoever you are! motion and reflection are especi-
         ally for you; 

The divine ship sails the divine sea for you.

20  Whoever you are! you are he or she for whom the 
         earth is solid and liquid,

You are he or she for whom the sun and moon hang 
         in the sky,

For none more than you are the present and the past,

For none more than you is immortality.

 Each man to himself, and each woman to herself,
         such is the word of the past and present, and 
         the word of immortality; 

No one can acquire for another—not one!

Not one can grow for another—not one!

22  The song is to the singer, and comes back most to 
         him; 

The teaching is to the teacher, and comes back most 
         to him; 

The murder is to the murderer, and comes back most 
         to him; 

The theft is to the thief, and comes back most to him;

The love is to the lover, and comes back most to him;

The gift is to the giver, and comes back most to him 
         —it cannot fail; 

The oration is to the orator, the acting is to the actor 
         and actress, not to the audience; 

And no man understands any greatness or goodness 
         but his own, or the indication of his own.

Other verses in this poem for perspective.

A Clear Midnight

This is thy hour, O soul, thy free flight into the wordless.
Away from books, away from art, the day erased, the lesson done.
Thee fully forth emerging, silent, gazing, pondering the themes thou lovest best:
Night, sleep, death and the stars.

--Walt Whitman

A cool idea

Caring for Ourselves this Valentine's Day

The practice of metta (lovingkindness), uncovering the force of love that can uproot fear, anger, and guilt, begins with befriending ourselves. The foundation of metta practice is to know how to be our own friend. According to the Buddha, "You can search throughout the entire universe for someone who is more deserving of your love and affection than you are yourself, and that person is not to be found anywhere. You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection." How few of us embrace ourselves in this way! With metta practice we uncover the possibility of truly respecting ourselves. We discover, as Walt Whitman put it, "I am larger and better than I thought. I did not think I held so much goodness."
--Sharon Salzberg, Lovingkindness
From Everyday Mind, a Tricycle book edited by Jean Smith

clindsay@wwt.net

Learned Astronomer

When I heard the learned Astronomer

When i heard the learned astronomer,
When the proofs, the figures were ranged in columns before me,
When I was shown the charts and diagrams, to add, divide and measure them,

When I sitting heard the astronomer where he lectured with much applause in the lecture room,
How soon unaccountable I became tired and sick,

Till rising and gliding out I wandered off by myself
In the mystical, moist night air, and from time to time
Looked up in perfect silence at the stars.

Rehearsal -- A noiseless, patient spider

A noiseless patient spider

A noiseless patient spider,
I marked whereon a little promintory it stood isolated
Marked 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 from 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,
Until the gossamer thread you fling catch somewhere O my soul.

Rehearsal - A noiseless patient spider

A noiseless patient spider
I marked whereon a little promontory it stood isolated
Marked how to explore the vacant vast surrounding
It launched forth filament, filament, filament out of itself
Every reeling them, ever tirelessly speeding them.

And you oh my soul from where you stand
surrounded, detached in measureless oceans of space
Ceaselessly musing, venturing, throwing, seeking the spheres to connect them