Summary Of When I Heard The Learn D Astronomer By Walt Whitman

As the speaker sits in an auditorium, they observe the lecturer’s many notes, “When the proofs, the figures, were ranged in columns before me, / When I was shown the charts and diagrams, to add, divide, and measure them,” (lines 2-3). This line provides strong visual imagery of complex investigations in astronomy, and a reader can easily imagine a full lecture room with endless notes and charts which aids in providing the mind-numbing mood of the experience. Moreover, the repetitions of what are essentially synonyms in this context make these lines sound like the rambles of the astronomer, contributing to the tone. As the speaker tires of the lecture, he leaves the room and “In the mystical moist night-air, and from time to time, / Look'd up in perfect silence at the stars” (lines 8-9). Here Whitman again employs imagery to make the night seem appealing and

Walt Whitman’s poem “When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer” seeks to provide a brief exploration of the contrast between wisdom and knowledge. Whitman uses numerous poetic devices and syllable stresses to conclude his intended theme of the poem. Along with the structure, he implements purposeful character and setting development within the eight lines of the poem. Although short in length, this work leaves much to be discovered.

The world has several great poets and many mind-blowing works, each with its own way of portraying its own message and some the same ones. Jane Flanders wrote the poem named “Cloud Painter” she shows the world from an artistic way, using a painter and his canvas to help the reader picture the true meaning behind the words and images created. Robert Frost takes on the same idea but uses a less complex example so that it makes his work easy to understand while not revealing the real meaning of the poem. Frost and Flanders are just two of the many poets that use nature as a way of explaining the very lessons in life. Each poet has a different way of presenting similar images but from a different perspective.

Walt Whitman could be seen as a narcissist because of his confidence in knowing the “ways” of the world. He is confident in his theory that the physical self and the emotional self, or the soul, are equals in all aspects. But I’m unsure if this is such a bad thing, as narcissism has negative connotations. On the other hand, the object of a visionary poet is not to sway people a certain way or impress them but to be able to reveal a moment or feeling in time and share their findings, which Walt does. Through his work he isn’t saying look at me and all I know. He is sharing his self-discovery and soul searching with the reader to show how magical it can be. He shares his uncertainties, what it’s like to love and what it’s like to be at peace

To begin, Walt Whitman strongly believes that students should learn by experience. In his poem When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer, Walt Whitman expresses this view. In the poem, a student looks at charts and diagrams and he soon becomes bored of hearing his professor lecture. That is until he wanders off by himself and

The poem, “ When I Heard Learn’d Astronomer,” by Walt Whitman conveys theme in his verse to demonstrate the experience in the class astronomy. Whitman conveys theme from revealing the first time a person experience the class astronomy and having the clue on what the professor was illustrating. The author demonstrates it by, “When I heard the learn’d astronomer, When the proofs, the figures, were ranged in columns before me”( lines one through two). Whitman portrays the first time a person has experienced the class and highlighting the events that occurred. The person was trying a new thing in life and figured out that it wasn’t for it.

“The world is the true classroom. The most rewarding and important type of learning is through experience, seeing something with our own eyes.” According to Walt Whitman’s poem “When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer” he portrays the theme that it is better to learn by experiencing things on your own. Whitman illustrates “When I sitting heard the astronomer where he lectured with much applause in the lecture-room. How soon unaccountable I became tired and sick” (lines 4-5). The author implies how he is not understanding the material taught in class. He is lost how everyone else is getting the subject but him. Students or anyone trying to learn something new does not always work when they are in class. Just because everyone else might get it does

tells a tale of a student that grows uninterested in what is being taught to him/her. Thus, the student decides to leave and self-educate him/herself. Whitman writes this poem to demonstrate how experiences and learning within one’s mind can help an individual flock intellectually rather than being taught by someone based on their thoughts. Obviously, Whitman took part in the transcendentalism movement; which members believed that one must learn through instinct and through their own ideas. The student in the poem leaves the astronomer in hopes of finding answers for themselves through their own interpretation of whatever they are interested in. This is evident when the student observes the stars for him/herself. The student no longer limit

Nature has an undefinable meaning as the theme is utilised in literature, and it has been a topic of reflection within the Romanticists since the beginning of the era. Romanticism and nature and inextricably linked ideas. Poets; Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman wrote during the romantic era, and both drew heavily from aspects of nature in their work. Nature can be paralleled against several things, including humanity and the idea of life and death. The contrast between the natural world and the artificial world, and what this means for society, is also strongly eluded to in Dickinson and Whitman’s poems. Each poet uses nature as the backbone to their poetry in several instances. Dickinson’s, “Hope is the Thing with Feathers”, (Dickinson, 19) and “My Life Has Stood A Loaded Gun”, (Dickinson, 69) are strong examples of this. Whitman’s, “Song of Myself”, (Whitman, 29) and, “When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d”, (Whitman, 255) are also poems that show the connection between nature and romanticism. Poets, Dickinson and Whitman engage with romanticism in a creative and constructive manner through the utilisation of the natural world.

of Whitman shouting at the reader, saying "Look what I've discovered!": "Stop this day and night with me and

The nineteenth century produced many esteemed authors, including Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman who became two of Americas most popular poets. While vastly different in style and personality, both Dickinson and Whitman relate to many people on an emotional level through their poetry, even in the twenty-first century. The works of poetry by Dickinson and Whitman can be compared on levels of style and form and both writers composed beautiful verses of high quality. Through the following comparisons, it will become apparent how Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman influenced American literature and culture both in similar and diverse ways.

Walt Whitman, a civil war nurse was a self-taught poet in the 1800s. Whitman is known for using lists, anaphora, free verse, and other literary devices in his poems. In his works, he focuses on American workers, diversity, transcendent approaches to nature, and individualism. “Song of Myself,” a poem written by Whitman, explores themes of nature, sex, democracy, and spirituality. Whitman uses nature to fuel his creativity in using grass as a symbol of comparison to life by using imagery, metaphors, and analogies.

The beauty of nature is often overlooked and underappreciated in today’s society. The neglect and lack of respect given to such a beautiful creation by members of society is widely reflected in Romantic poetry. The romantic era began in 1798, where writers such as William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge expressed their opinions and feelings towards nature. Overall such writers typically express a positive outlook on the natural world around them, however some stray the other way. Specifically Coleridge and Wordsworth began to express the feeling of disconnect towards nature. Both writers began to feel as though they could not understand nature and cannot connect with the beauty it gives off as expressed in poems such as “Dejection”, “London 1802”, and “Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey”. Not only did some of these writers begin to feel a disconnect but a select few also begin to feel as though people are disrespecting the balance of nature and are trying to disrupt the balance and manipulate it. Writers such as Mary Shelley, author of the novel Frankenstein, expresses the concern of people taking the laws of nature and twisting them. Writers and people living during this time period not only express an appreciation for nature but also the truth about the human relationship with nature. The relationship between humans and nature is on of mistreatment.

Almost every college student in the world can relate to being bored in a lecture hall. Old professors teaching boring material that does not relate to what they want to be doing. In Walt Whitman's poem, "When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer," Whitman’s character is describing just that. Whitman used past tense throughout the entire poem. I believe that this poem is someone reflecting on a moment in life where they made a choice between knowledge and true happiness. The character’s ability to connect with nature helps them make a tough decision about what they want in life. Whitman shows this through careful word choice and natural imagery.

In Walt Whitman’s “Song of Myself”, the poet showcases his feelings of people and himself by using literary descriptors to convey his thoughts on these and various other subjects. In section 20, Whitman’s purpose is to showcase self-assuredness regardless of what the world tries to state otherwise by maintaining his resolute happiness in being himself. This is what sets him apart from being like the other people in the world.