'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.

In the poem “Song of Myself” Whitman presents the idea that regardless of particular religion, a higher power resides within every living thing and that the knowledge of ourselves and the living things around us gives us a transcendent power beyond our world. On the “Song of Myself” poem Whitman presents the believe that every living organism in the universe possesses a spirit. Additionally, Whitman acknowledges the need for a spiritual relationship between a person and a higher spiritual power. For Whitman, life was and endless journey. The following quote captures some of the Transcendental elements used by Walt Whitman on the “Song of Myself”

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.

I think what Thoreau is trying to convey with this quote, is that astronomers are the only ones who can look at the stars and truly understand them. On the other hand, we usually associate astrologists with those who may apply false meaning to the stars. This creates a parallel to what Thoreau considers the “great poets” and the rest of mankind to be. The “great poets” are those who can read poems and great literature and truly understand them. On the other hand, the rest of mankind may look at a poem or a piece of literature and apply some false meaning to the poem. I actually disagreed with Thoreau on this point. I believe that people can really apply whatever meaning they want to a poem or some passage. This doesn’t mean that they are wrong, as there are numerous interpretations of almost everything in the world, it simply means that their interpretation does not correlate with the author’s ideas. I also don’t love how Thoreau is insinuating that these great poems should be reserved for the “great poets”. I believe that enlightenment through reading should be available to all who seek it. It doesn’t truly matter if their opinions are “right”. Thoreau on the other hand dismisses them, almost in order to dissuade them from attempting to understand the poems. Although I agree that the author’s opinion

As Houseman noted, “The toil of all that be; Helps not the primal fault” (5-6). The author elaborates that shooting stars are like human life; there are so many stars in the sky and even if one is lost, the sky will remain the same. This relates to people when there is a tragedy but they keep living their everyday lives. Meanwhile Whitman explains, “Till rising and gliding out I wander’d off by myself; In the mystical moist-night air, and from time to time; Look’d up in the perfect silence at the stars” (9-11).

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.

Global warming, pollution, countless species extinct! Why do people even bother to defend the actions of millions!? Humans have destroyed the place people call home and the environment that surrounds them all... In Hope for Animals and their World by Jane Goodall, the effects on the endangered American Burying Beetle are clear. In ¨My Life as a Bat” by Margaret Atwood, during a nightmare, Atwood (as a bat) experiences the temper of a man and describes the treatment of bats overall. And some could argue that the third text ¨When

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.

Along with Ralph Waldo Emerson, Walt Whitman is one of the most significant figures in the development of transcendentalism in the United States. His literary works contributed to spread of transcendentalism throughout the United States. His poem, “A Noiseless Patient Spider” and When I Heard Learn’d Astronomer” are his famous poem that strongly reflect the characteristics of transcendentalism by using imagery, figurative languages and theme related to spirituality.

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.

In “Song of Myself”, grass is the central image surrounding Walt Whitman’s ideology. The idea behind it is grass, in some ways, is very similar to people in society and natures lifecycles. As Whitman was “observing a spear of summer grass” (5), he began to question the human condition. One of Whitman’s first thoughts was that one individual, like a single spear of grass surrounded by more grass, is part of a large community of people. It’s impossible to differentiate from others, for all people are equal despite cultural, religious, or gender differences. Nevertheless, Whitman’s use of symbolism alludes to the idea that grass reflects the thoughts and condition of people in society.

Furthermore, Whitman composes, “A child said, what is grass?/… or I guess the grass itself is a child”(ll.14&20). Whitman creates a relation

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

    From looking at the titles of Walt Whitman's vast collection of poetry in Leaves of Grass one would be able to surmise that the great American poet wrote about many subjects -- expressing his ideas and thoughts about everything from religion to Abraham Lincoln. Quite the opposite is true, Walt Whitman wrote only about a single subject which was so powerful in the mind of the poet that it consumed him to the point that whatever he wrote echoed of that subject. The beliefs and tenets of transcendentalism were the subjects that caused Whitman to write and carried through not only in the wording and imagery of his poems, but also in the revolutionary way that he chose to write his poetry.

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