¶ … Heard the Learn'd Astronomer
"When I Heard a Learn'd Astronomer" by Walt Whitman is a lyrical poem consisting of just eight lines, one single stanza, and was first published in Leaves of Grass in 1855 (Whitman 340). The poem begins with the same line as the title of the poem. Whitman is known for repeating his title as the first line in his poetry as it is a way to give extra emphasis to the line (and title). "When I heard a learn'd astronomer" as the title and first line leaves the reader without any sort of doubt about what the narrator is doing: he is listening to someone of intelligence and importance. However, it can also be suggested that Whitman is using the clipped version of learned (i.e., 'learn'd) sarcastically (i.e., he is "learned" -- at least that is what people think).
There is also the fact in the first line that Whitman chooses to rhyme the words 'heard' and 'learn'd' in the middle of the line as opposed to doing it at the end of disparate lines. Some may argue that the use of two words rhyming in the middle of a line is a bit awkward or uncomfortable to speak, and perhaps it is, however, the technique was probably utilized by Whitman in order to accentuate the difference between the person listening and the person speak -- in the fact that they are two completely different individuals: one is just a listener and one is a learn'd man. This may also be the reason that Whitman chose to use the spelling of learned as 'learn'd' -- as he may be showing the difference in intelligence through this different spelling.
The second line, "When the proofs, the figures, were ranged in columns before me" is an interesting line as well because of how long it is in comparison with the first line. The narrator is listing all of the things that the astronomer is showing, however, he says that these proofs and figures are 'ranged' (i.e., arranged) in columns before him. Columns are vertical supports, but the long line of the poem is anything but vertical. Whitman was contrasting the word 'columns' with the length of the poem.
In the third line, "When I was shown the...
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