I've always liked this poem - to me, there is something strangely fitting about comparing a person to a spider. This comparison is often made, but always in a negative light. Spiders are tiny creatures, trying to survive in a big world (as Whitman says, they "launch'd forth filament, filament, filament, out of iteself" as it attempts to explore giant expanse of the world around them.). Comparing the spider's attempt to get a sense of its surroundings and find surfaces to attach its web to a soul who is searching for connection and meaning in this big bad world is brilliant and touching. Like a spider, a soul is strangely delicate and small when we realize the size of the universe, so it's a fitting comparison.
The only other time that I have heard such a comparison is the O.A.R. version of the kid's song "Itsy Bitsy Spider". In the middle of the song are these lines: "And I know / I've got to get back home / back where I belong / I feel it coming / got to get where I belong". You can listen to an excerpt of the song here: http://mog.com/music/O.A.R./songs (just scroll down to "Itsy Bitsy Spider") This is similar to Whitman's poem in spirit - it's about comparing people to spiders, in search meaning and a home.
Something else which I appreciate about this poem is the use of language. In order to help create the sense of an echo is a big empty space, Waltman pairs words like "vacant vast" and repeats words like "filament, filament, filament". We aren't just told the spider is in a big empty space; when we speak the words to this poem out loud, we can FEEL the echo of our words.
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