Surrounded, detatched

A Noiseless Patient Spider

A noiseless patient spider,

I marked where on a promontory it stood isolated,

Marked how to explore the vacant vast surrounding,

It launched forth filament, filament, filament, out of itself,

Ever unreeling them, ever tirelessly speeding them.

And you O my soul where you stand,

Surrounded, detached, in measureless oceans of space,

Ceaselessly musing, venturing, throwing, seeking the spheres to connect them,

Till the bridge that you need be formed, till the ductile anchor hold,

Till the gossamer thread you fling catch somewhere, O my soul.
                                                                                   
                                                                                      Walt Whitman

There is another poem written by Whitman with the famous lines, "Oh Captain, my captain", as quoted in the film that everyone should watch at least once, Dead Poet's Society.  In terms of this poem, I get a very distinct feeling of an emptiness waiting to be filled. Like there is some sort of potential energy that hasn't yet been manifested in the universe. I love how it is conveyed first by the image of the spider in the middle of its web, the structure that took hours to construct and that will eventually be destroyed, just waiting for something to fall in. I also love that the human soul is made parallel with the spider, just suspended in space.

Another aspect to this poem is the repetition, The filament launching forth, like life is going on and on and on, with no end in sight and with not much foresight, like the soul constantly reaching for something more.

What do you think about using the spider as a metaphor to the human soul? Is it a weird image?