Walt Whitman, a nineteenth-century poet and journalist, is famous for his ability to see beyond the physical and write about themes that delve into the emotional. In his lyric poem, “A Noiseless Patient Spider,” this fact is highlighted by his concise yet sublime description of the isolation felt by both the spider and the thoughtful speaker. This particular theme of isolation is commonly used in detective fiction writings, such as those of Edgar Allan Poe, to highlight man's insane emotional state as well as his fervor and ability, when given an enclosed space, to unite points and thus reach a conclusion. In Walt Whitman's poetry, the effects of isolation in detective fiction are mirrored and manifested as reasons for loneliness and the search for meaning in the universe through the desire for connection between seemingly meaningless events in life. Lyric poetry is defined as “a poem that expresses the subjective feelings and personal emotions of the poet” (“Gale Cengage Learning”). In “A Silent Patient Spider,” the emotions felt by the beings in the poem itself have a dramatic effect on the overall tone of the poem, and this feeling is similar to that experienced in detective fiction. In line 2, the theme of isolation comes into play as the spider is described as being alone on a small cliff-like surface (Whitman 519). Through the poet's use of the word "tirelessly," the speaker begins to sense how the spider must feel to endlessly spin its thread with no real end in sight (Whitman 519). This isolation that the spider experiences is compared in the second stanza to the speaker's soul, which ceaselessly attempts to grasp something significant in its life. The poet's use of vi......middle of paper......"A silent patient spider" contains the theme of isolation as a representative of the solitary emotions experienced by society. The confinement experienced by both spider and man creates a real desire for events to lead their lives to “catch somewhere” of importance (Whitman 520). Isolation in both poetry and crime fiction causes the audience to feel the emotions that the characters feel and creates the ideal scene for longing and the actual search for a solution. Works Cited "Glossary of Terms." Gale Cengage Learning. Cengage Learning and the Web. April 5, 2011..Whitman, Walt. "A silent patient spider." Prentice Hall Literary Portfolio. 'And'. Christy Desmet. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Education, Inc., 2007. Print.