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,
With the alliterative phrase “vacant vast,” Whitman describes how the spider is exploring his surroundings, which are lonely and empty.
A Noiseless Patient Spider