When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer
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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 became tired and sick,
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 perfect silence at the stars.
By Walt Whitman (1819-1892) from Leaves of Grass
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© Copyright - Quest for Meaning
The poet experiences awe and wonder, an experience the astronomer is just as capable of. However, the astronomer is aware of so much more than the poet. The astronomer can marvel at the history of the stars, the natural laws that govern their movement, and much more.