I believe that you are referencing Whitman's poem "A
Noiseless Patient Spider" when speaking about a spider's activity and the comparison to
human experience.
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, out of itself;/ Ever unreeling them-
ever tirelessly speeding
them.
Here, the spider is
waiting, looking out at the world around it. The spider, as notated by the word
"patient", waits- it does not want to waste its filament by sending it out prematurely.
The spider wants to know everything about its environment before it makes its
move.
Once the spider feels content with letting go of its
precious filament, its lifeline, it releases all it has kept
confined.
What this says about human experience is that
mankind should become more conscious of their surroundings, wait patiently like the
spider, before dispensing energy to make their move.
The
poem states how different mankind is than the spider. Mankind, instead, does not stand
patient and silent. Instead, mankind, without end, muses, ventures, and throws
("ceaslessly musing, venturing, and throwing") hoping to find a foothold, an
"anchor."
Whitman is suggesting that mankind acts too
quickly to its surroundings. Instead of making the jump blindly, Whitman hopes that
mankind will look to the spider as an example.
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