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Walt Whitman
This small bit of Whitman’s Leaves of Grass, eight lines, is a perfect encapsulation of Whitman’s view of nature. The “perfect silence” as he walks in the “mystical moist night-air”...
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When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer
In Walt Whitman's "When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer," the lecture is clearly some type of presentation. The narrator gives us clues by describing what else is present at the lecture. There are...
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When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer
This small excerpt from Leaves of Grass serves as a perfect example of Whitman’s point of view about living in the world, about observing the world we’re in rather than intellectually...
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When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer
It is unclear what specific information is being presented by the astronomer at the beginning of the poem, but the reader can gain a better idea via the context that Walt Whitman provides....
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When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer
This poem published in 1865 is one that is often quoted and referred to (it is even referenced in an episode of the TV show Breaking Bad); it is also one of Whitman's shortest poems, given that he...
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When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer
There are all sorts of people in the world and there are all sorts of interests and vocations. Walt Whitman was a poet, a nature lover, a free spirit, a wanderer. What was good for him was not...
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When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer
This beautiful little excerpt from Leaves of Grass is a perfect example of the difference between Neoclassicism and Romanticism. The narrator, presumably Walt himself, is listening to a lecture on...
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When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer
As with all poetic interpretations and understandings, I think that one can find different answers to the question and it's important to make sure that all poetry is understood and reinterpreted on...
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When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer
I think that the answer to this is going to be a personal one. From the tone of the question, it seems like this has been discussed in your classroom setting and you might have to reference this...
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When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer
Let us remember that it can often be dangerous to look at sections of poems in isolation and not to look at them as a whole. It is difficult to understand the full meaning of the section of verse...
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When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer
It is important to realise that this poem is an example of American Romanticism. Romanticism as a literary movement started in many ways as a kind of backlash to rationalism and a period of history...
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When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer
I think that the speaker of the poem, presumably Whitman, ends up breaking out on his own path rather than that of the "learn'd astronomer" represents a strong presence of Transcendentalism. The...
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When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer
The primary teaching method the astronomer uses in lecture. In addition to lecture he uses visual aids –charts, diagrams, proofs, and figures.
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When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer
When we think about the tone of a given work of literature we are referring to the attitude the writer takes about a subject or character, normally produced by word choice. When we try to work out...
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When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer
Whitman presents an interesting view on education in his poem. The most foundational element is contrasting how Whitman sees the traditional classroom setting. The traditional scientific process...
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When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer
Whitman's tendency to assign primacy to the subjective experience is something that emerges from the poem. Whitman's meaning is to explore how personalised, the idea of the individual experience...
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When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer
If you are pursuing a master's degree, you are going to have to learn a lot of information. Depending on your field, it may be mathematical formulas, scientific data, a vast body of literature --...
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When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer
Whitman seeks to expand the appreciation of both scientific phenomena and the natural world in this particular poem. Representing a sense of American Romanticism, Whitman appreciates to a certain...
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When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer
In Walden, one of the many Transcendental concepts Thoreau expressed is the idea that God does not exist in some far away place, but lives instead all around us. "Heaven," he wrote, "is under our...
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When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer
The lecturer in the poem is making a scientific presentation on some aspect of astronomy. He provides his audience with mathematical proofs, figures, charts, and diagrams. His lecture is rooted in...
