SOLUTION: Read And Analyze "When I Heard The Learn'd

Read and analyze, "When I heard the Learn'd Astronomer" by Walt Whitman. First, accurately summarize the events that occur in this poem. Then discuss the reason for the narrator's actions. How does the poem reflect the ideas of the romantics?ANALYSIS: Whitman's poem says we can appreciate stars in two different ways: an astronomer's scientific way and a poet's silent way. Let's first consider th...The form and style of "When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer" are representative of almost all of Whitman's poetry. This poem is written in the poet's own particular brand of free verse, without a sp...Walt Whitman is America's world poet—a latter-day successor to Homer, Virgil, Dante, and Shakespeare. In Leaves of Grass (1855, 1891-2), he celebrated democracy, nature, love, and friendship. This monumental work chanted praises to the body as well as to the soul, and found beauty and...C. Read and analyze "When I heard the Learn'd Astronomer" by Walt Whitman. What Romantic ideas does it express, and how does the structure of the poem reinforce the meaning? When I heard the learn'd astronomer; When the proofs, the figures, were ranged in columns before me; When I was shown the charts and the diagrams, to add, divide, and measure them; When I, sitting, heard the astronomer

"When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer" Walt Whitman

"When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer" is, in many ways, essentially a poetic expression of Immanuel Kant's ideas, key to an understanding of Romanticism, on the nature of the sublime.Astrophysicist and Director of the Hayden Planetarium, Neil deGrasse Tyson reads Walt Whitman's "When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer."DARK UNIVERSE, the newWhen I heard the learn'd astronomer, When the proofs, the figures, were ranged in columns before me, When I was shown the charts, the diagrams, to add, divide, and measure them, When I sitting heard the learned astronomer where he lectured with much applause in the lecture room, How soon unaccountable I became tired and sick,When I heard the learn'd astronomer, 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, When I sitting heard the astronomer where he lectured with much applause in the lecture-room, How soon unaccountable I

When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer Analysis

The folks at Zen Pencils put together an awesome comic version of this poem which you can read here. "When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer" Track Info Ms. Alexander's ENG 250 Class (Fall 2015When I heard the learn'd astronomer, 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, When I sitting heard the astronomer where he lectured with much applause in the lecture-room, How soon unaccountable I became tired and sick, 5 Till rising and glidingSummary of When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer Popularity of "When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer": Walt Whitman, a renowned American poet, journalist, and essayist wrote When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer. It is a short narrative poem about learning against experiencing. It was first published in 1867.The poem falls into two sections, even though they are not indicated on the page. In the first, the narrator is inside the lecture room, listening to a well educated astronomer, a "learned" manRead and analyze "When I heard the Learn'd Astronomer" by Walt Whitman. What romantic ideas does it express, and how does the structure of the poem reinforce the meaning?

This poem, 'When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer', will also be summarized as depicting Whitman's preference for a naturalistic view of the international over an analytical one. The poet describes feeling ill and bored all the way through a systematic lecture on astronomy. Then, after going out of doors and having a look up at the stars, he turns out to feel higher.

Explore When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer

Structure

'When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer' consists of eight strains, and each line is a part of a unmarried, long sentence. The first 4 lines each and every get started with the word "when" which makes them look like a list of information greater than part of a poem (even supposing Read more">repetition is of course a poetic Read more">trope). The second, third, and fourth strains listing the techniques astronomy is discussed by way of the lecturer and the Read more">target audience's reaction to that discussion.

The 2d half of the poem moves clear of the simple to the level language used to describe the astronomer's lecture. The poet uses extra sublime, rather flowery, phrases. This shift in Read more">tone and meaning at the finish of a poem, frequently known as "the flip" in literary research, is meant to emphasize the poem's that means. In this situation, Whitman is illustrating his preference for finding out about nature by way of being in nature.

Analysis of When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer

Lines 1-4

When I heard the be informed'd astronomer,

When the proofs, the figures, had been ranged in columns ahead of me,

When I was shown the charts and diagrams, to add, divide, and measure them,

When I sitting heard the astronomer where he lectured with a lot applause in the lecture-room,

The first half of the poem describes a chat on astronomy that the Read extra">speaker (mostly most likely Whitman himself) is attending. These 4 strains are organized in the type of an inventory, each and every line detailing another side of the lecture. The 2d and third strains each include lists describing the various mathematical equipment used to discuss the stars via the "learn'd astronomer.

I consider that this repeated use of lists in the first half of the poem is meant to Read more">symbolize the sense of boredom the speaker felt. Imagine a lecture being simply an extended checklist of facts that you can't practice and don't understand. Trying to be aware of the lecturer could simply develop into a mind-numbing workout.

The fourth line of the poem goes on to explain now not simply the lecture itself, but the response of the rest of the audience. Apparently, the poet used to be the only one in the room no longer putting on the astronomer's every phrase.

Lines 5-8

How quickly unaccountable I turned into drained and in poor health,

Till emerging and gliding out I wander'd off on my own,

In the mystical wet night-air, and from time to time,

Look'd up in very best silence at the stars.

The second part of 'When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer,' beginning at line five, begins with a succinct description of the speaker's reaction to the dry material of the astronomy lecture. He describes beginning to feel "drained and sick" quickly after the lecture starts. Their reason is "unaccountable" or unknown.

The speaker endured to really feel poorly "Till rising and gliding out…" he wandered out of the lecture to be alone. It's value noting that the language of the poem is starting to veer clear of the drier terms utilized in the first half of the poem.

This use of extra elegant language continues in line seven. The poet describes the out of doors as "the mystical moist night-air." The great thing about this word provides a strong Read extra">contrast to the previous list of mathematical terms and blunt statements of details. Pay particular consideration to the word "mystical" in this line. It implies a extra intense response to nature than that offered through science, implying that the speaker has a deeper connection to the stars, regardless of being not able to hear the astronomer's whole lecture.

In the final line of the poem, the reader is asked to believe the speaker walking through that "mystical moist night-air" and glancing up at the stars once in a while. This line, together with the rest of the 2nd half of the poem, presentations that the cure for the speaker's unknown illness comes from the easy act of being out in nature and quietly marveling at its beauty.

Historical Context

Walt Whitman is regarded as to be one in every of the maximum important poets in American history. For all that although, he never completed financial luck together with his writing. He labored as a journalist, trainer, and printer at quite a lot of issues in his lifestyles. He was once largely self-taught. This rejection of higher schooling can have influenced this particular poem. It's clear that Whitman had a choice for a extra intuitive form of finding out as opposed to the traditional, lecture-based schooling.

'When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer' first seemed in "Leaves of Grass." It was once collections of Whitman's poetry that the poet continued to refine, edits, and re-publish all the way through his lifetime. It is considered to be one in every of the maximum necessary volumes of poetry in American literature.