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The Learn'd Astronomer - Notes

Snowflakes, notes, Grade 7, english literature

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125 views2 pages

The Learn'd Astronomer - Notes

Snowflakes, notes, Grade 7, english literature

Uploaded by

raidarounaque
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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English Literature

Snowflakes - Chapter - The Learn’d Astronomer.

Vocabulary

Learn’d, wander’d, look’d Learned, wandered, looked

astronomer an expert or a student who studies stars, space, and the physical universe.

applause clapping

unaccountable

Gliding - glide Slide or flow

mystical Spiritual, supernatural

moist Damp, wet

The Learn’d Astronomer - line-by-line analysis


Main idea: In “When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer,” the speaker attends an astronomer’s public lecture on

the stars. While the audience enjoys the astronomer’s scientific explanations and mathematical equations, the

speaker finds them unbearable. In truth, the speaker believes that there is a power and beauty in nature that

cannot be measured or explained. The poet, Walt Whitman suggests that one can simply experience nature itself

to gain a different and deeper understanding of the world.

Line 1: When I heard the learn’d astronomer,


The speaker attends an esteemed astronomer’s public lecture on the stars

Line 2: When the proofs, the figures, were ranged in columns before me,
The astronomer displays various mathematical proofs and evidence in columns to the audience in

support of a scientific argument.

Line 3: When I was shown the charts and diagrams, to add, divide, and measure them,
The astronomer also displays various charts and diagrams and explains the mathematical calculations

behind them.

Explanation: The poet finds the astronomer’s scientific perspective on the stars intolerable. The poet calls the

astronomer’s scientific methods as “proofs,” “figures,” “charts,” “diagrams,” “add,” “divide,” and “measure.” The

poet describes the astronomer’s methods unemotionally and without figurative language, which indicates that he

has no interest in the astronomer’s lecture.

Line 4: When I sitting heard the astronomer where he lectured with much applause in the lecture-room,
The speaker sits in the audience, who all enthusiastically clap for the astronomer’s lecture.

Notice: Lines 1-4 of the poem, which relate to the astronomer’s lecture, are wordier than the last lines, 5-8.
Line 5: How soon unaccountable I became tired and sick,
Very quickly and unexplainably, the speaker finds the whole lecture unbearable. He becomes bored and

sick of it.

Explanation: The wordiness of these first four lines indicates the poet’s feeling of being ‘attacked’ by the

astronomer’s words. Even the enthusiastic “applause” of the audience does not change the poet’s mind. The poet

becomes unaccountably "tired and sick." The poet’s “unaccountable” nature is completely opposite to the

astronomer’s attempt to measure and account for everything. That is, there are no charts or diagrams that can

explain the poet’s feelings.

Line 6: Till rising and gliding out I wander’d off by myself,


Therefore, the speaker rises and leaves the lecture room alone.

Explanation: The poet ‘rises’ and ‘glides’ out of the room and ‘wanders off’ by himself. These verbs show the

free-spirited nature of the poet in contrast to the rigidness of the astronomer’s lecture. Indeed, once the poet

leaves behind scientific analysis, the speaker gains a type of freedom. This freedom allows the speaker to leave

the strictness of the lecture-room and go wherever he wishes in body and mind.

Line 7: In the mystical moist night-air, and from time to time,


Outside, it is nighttime and the air is damp. There is a magical quality to the surrounding nature.

Explanation: For the poet, simply being in nature is a magical experience and can provide a deeper

understanding than pure scientific study. By using the word ‘mystical’ the poet suggests that there is something

spiritual and magical about directly experiencing nature.

Line 8: Look’d up in perfect silence at the stars.


Occasionally, the speaker looks up at the beautiful stars in the sky and enjoys the silence of the night.

Explanation: As the speaker looks up at the stars, there is “perfect silence.” This “silence” contrasts with the

astronomer’s wordy and unbearable lecture. Moreover, this “silence” is “perfect.” Therefore, the speaker

experiences perfection.

Although the astronomer is “learn’d,” in other words well read and knowledgeable, the poem seems to imply

that all the book learning in the world isn’t a substitute for actual experience and reflection. Some things cannot

be explained and that is what makes them great.

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