Walt Whitman's When I Heard The Learn D Astronomer

Walt Whitman, and mark twain both lived similar lives. they both started out becoming apprentice printers at the age of 12 and both made their career in writing, however where they differed really sets them apart, not only were they both on different sides during the civil war, only one of them could make a stable living during his time writing. Not saying that Whitman’s work was bad, it just wasn’t appreciated as the amazing writing it was, and even though they have many similarities there were many differences as well that set them apart. The basic premise of the poem is that a person is at a lecture, listening to an astronomer who talks about nature analytically. He becomes sick of hearing the astronomer and goes outside where he discovers that there is so mush more to nature than number on graphs.

Stories in Romanticism hardly end in happy endings. In fact, the earliest of the modern romantic stories were about the wickedness of human nature. Romantics often emphasized the beauty, strangeness, and mystery of nature. Romantic writers showed their intuition of nature that came from within. The key to this inner world was the imagination of the writer; this customarily displayed their expressions of their inner soul and their perspective towards various aspects of nature. It was these perspectives that marked each author of the Romantic period, such as Whitman, Dickinson, Hawthorne and Poe, as unique individuals. These viewpoints are markedly echoed in the poem “When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer” by Walt Whitman.

Many can relate to Whitman’s poem on a great variety of levels. From taking this course in Solar System Astronomy, students are able to have a glimpse into a college career similar to that of the reader. One can also relate to Whitman’s curiosity and joy upon learning new things, such as how far the Earth is from the Sun, or to telescopes and how they work. Being easily interesting is one thing; being enthralled with curiosity and wonder as Whitman was is completely different.

In 2013, a high school choir sang a song in tribute to the military. Several members of the 200-person choir had family members who were at the time deployed, at one time been deployed or had given their lives for the country they loved. Others had members of the police force or firefighting. The song was titled "Song for unsung hero." The director wanted to find a way to connect each individual to this song, to connect the audience not only to the song but the choir itself. The music was written in such a way that in some parts there were seven different harmonies being sung alongside the melody. The power of one could have done the trick, but the meanings and parts that each individual of that choir was singing, is what took it from separation to a collective identity. The people they were singing about is what united the group of students, the audience and the heroes they were singing for. Similarly, Walt Whitman's poem "I Hear America Singing" is a unique view on America's sense of individuality. This individuality is expressed through an almost seemingly contradiction of the

Astronomy is a branch of science that is heavily studied, with theories and scientific claims being backed up with plausible evidence and data, as shown in Walt Whitman’s poem When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer. However, Whitman’s poem also explores the beauty of appreciating the stars in the sky, purely because they are stars in the sky, put into simple words. He leans heavily on the idea that the more explanation and reason we set into nature, the further it loses its beauty and value, indicating appreciation of nature without having to explain its phenomena with numbers, diagrams and data. Poetry is famously known for the use of descriptive words and figurative language to depict important ideas throughout itself. Whether classical or contemporary poems, figurative language is a great way to express the importance or significance of a certain idea,

In the poem “When I heard the Learn’d Astronomer” the author, Walt Whitman addresses the theme of wisdom and knowledge. The character is uninterested in the subject that is being taught. Whitman implies that the character is uninterested in the topic because he does not seem to understand the lecture. Whitman states, “When I was shown the charts and diagrams, to add, divide, and measure them..”. This illustrates the knowledge the character is gaining.

(169) that Whitman claimed made him “...tired and sick...”(169). The astronomer exhibits ignorance to much of Walt Whitman’s words and provides an interpretation that is convenient to his beliefs “how true! Science just sucks all the beauty out of everything…” (169). Asimov openly displays his in depth knowledge of space to prove Whitman’s stargazing obsolete and educate readers of the “forest” and sway them away from the “leaf”.

Though this poem is quite short, Whitman uses several devices to construct a vivid description of the setting. At first, he describes the classroom in which the astronomer teaches to be crowded with equations and figures. The lecture hall is filled with people who are eager to learn about the stars - or just theories about the stars -

Emerson truly encourages the development of a good connection between men and the stars as “The rays that come from those heavenly worlds, will separate between him and vulgar things”(Nature 1). This goes along with Whitman’s poem, because he explains how when he became tired and sick of the astronomer’s lecture, he “wander’d off by [himself]...Look’d up in perfect silence at the stars”(When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer), the same way Emerson advises that “if a man would be alone, let him look at the stars”(Nature 1). Whitman’s poem involves philosophical ideas that are introduced by Emerson in Nature, which was written long before the publishing of “When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer”, also reinforcing the idea that the influence Emerson had on Whitman was a key part of his contribution to American Literature and

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

In spite of the disdain he feels for the astronomy lecture, the narrator expresses great admiration for the stars, which is illustrated through how he describes himself “[looking] up in perfect silence at the stars”(Whitman 8). His use of

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

Now I intend to turn my attention to concrete examples from Walt Whitman's poetry to provide some evidence of that sexuality played an important role in his poetry, and there are possible readings to find traces for that. Of course, we cannot only rely on selected

He informs his belief that human beings should appreciate what they have, instead of focus on what they do not have. He talk about the civilization as "powerful play," and insists that each person will "contribute a verse." This image allows Whitman to communicate his beliefs as well as emphasize the importance of one’s own expression. Both "trains of the faithless" and "cities fill'd with the foolish” create the image in the readers head of hopelessness. When

Along with the use of metaphors, the form of the poem plays an important role in uncovering the views of Whitman. First and foremost, this poem was written in free verse which is a form of poetry that lacks structure. The free verse stucture of the poem is shown in the lack of form in the stanzas of the poem. Some stanzas are six lines long while others are only one, and the lines can be either concise or drawn out. The poem also lacks any apparent rhyming scheme or rhythm. Unlike Shakespearean poetry, where the foot of the poem stays the same, the lack of any apparent structure to the poem leaves the reader unable to predict what is coming next. In addition to this, at the time this poem was written, free verse was not common. In fact, Whitman may have been one of the first poets to use this form, showing that he may have been rebelling against the predominant structured form in poetry. The lack of any apparent structure guides the reader towards the conclusion that Whitman did not like structure in poetry, and can even be