In the poem "A Silent Patient Spider" by Walt Whitman talks about a spider who faces problems and has no one to help him solve them. Walt Whitman uses elements such as imagery and symbolism. Use imagery to allow the reader to understand the surroundings, feelings, actions of both the speaker and the spider. Symbolism is used to describe the spider's actions by connecting them to human situations and how they are approached. Walt Whitman wants to convey to the reader that the problems faced can be resolved with commitment and perseverance. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay In the first stanza Walt Whitman uses imagery to show the setting of the poem. At first he uses "silent" to describe the spider and how he doesn't react to the situation like most people do when something suddenly happens. In the second and third lines of the first stanza Whitman uses “rest isolated/… vacant vast environment” to show that the spider is analyzing the problem before doing anything he might regret. Also use pictures to show how the spider begins to build a solution to this problem. This relates to human nature because when people are faced with a problem most of the time they deal with it, just like in the fourth line Whitman stated that the spider went "thread, thread, thread" taking its time. Walt Whitman uses symbolism to compare the spider's struggles to human life and how it is dealt with. The first stanza begins with “A silent patient spider.” Whitman seems to be describing a person who may have faced a problem and is analyzing it. In the last two lines Whitman talks about how he "threw filament, filament, filament, out of himself", this symbolizes the spider's effort and how he is going about it slowly and carefully. Most humans in intense situations will take their time and be aware of what they are doing to overcome the problem. Whitman once again uses imagery in the second stanza to paint a picture where the problem consumes the spider as it does in life if a lot of negative attention is given. In the second line of the verse he states that the spider is “immense oceans of space”, which means that the problem cannot be addressed yet because there is no solution yet. Whitman then concludes by saying "Until the gossamer thread you throw gets caught somewhere", meaning the end of the problem. Once the situation is back to normal and humans have their own solution to the problems. Symbolism is also present in this stanza when Walt Whitman uses “Surrounded, Detached” in the second line to show that the spider is so consumed with this bump in the road that it is now all he can think about. Sometimes people can be so focused on something that it takes away time and energy that could be used for something that makes them happier. In the fourth line Walt uses "as long as the pliable anchor holds", and it means that the spider should wait until it has the perfect plan to execute anything. Just like anyone should wait for the perfect moment when they will be able to put things right again. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay The imagery and symbolism in this poem relates to real human life because when you put effort and perseverance the problem is not that big. The images showed how the problem affected the spider and its sociality. The symbolism of the poem yes.