by Walt Whitman (1819 - 1892)
A noiseless, patient spider
Language: English
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, 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.
R. Sowash sets stanzas 1-2
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Text Authorship:
- by Walt Whitman (1819 - 1892), "A noiseless patient spider", appears in Leaves of Grass, first published 1900 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Ronald A. Beckett , "A noiseless, patient spider ", 2014 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Oliver Knussen, CBE (1952 - 2018), "A noiseless patient spider", op. 25 no. 2 (1991) [ soprano and piano ], from Whitman Settings, no. 2, confirmed with a score [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Deborah Mason , "Whitman interlude", 2010, first performed 2010 [ chorus ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Rhian Samuel (b. 1944), "The Gossamer Thread", 2014/2017, published 2017, first performed 2017 [ mixed chorus and organ ], Tŷ Cerdd [sung text not yet checked]
- by Rick Sowash (b. 1950), "A noiseless patient spider", 1998, stanzas 1-2 [ mezzo-soprano or baritone and viola or clarinet ], from Three Whitman Songs for mezzo-soprano and viola (or clarinet), no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2012-10-05
Line count: 10
Word count: 87