A Noiseless Patient Spider

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.
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And you, O my Soul, where you stand,
Surrounded, surrounded,
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.
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