¶ … Heard the Learned Astronomer Walt Whitman's poems draw upon many aspects of the natural world. Whitman as a poet is obsessed with the beauty of the natural scenery and also the beauty of the body. Thus, to some extent I find the subject matter of "When I Heard the Learned Astronomer" to be rather strange, given that it depicts a very negative view of a scientist. In the poem, the poet listens to a lecture by a supposedly learned astronomer who has a very pedantic view of the cosmos. The astronomer understands all of the mathematical aspects of the stars, but only the poet can go outside and appreciate the stars' natural beauty. Even the astronomer's audience is cold, enclosed within a lecture hall, rather than out in nature appreciating the stars as, the poet implies, they should be.

This Whitman poem seems to suggest a clear division between nature and art. As you note:...

It helped me understand that Whitman's most pressing problem with the astronomer is the man's lack of awe at the truly 'awesome' nature of the universe. The astronomer, as presented, thinks he has the mysteries of the universe 'all figured out,' while Whitman continually has a sense, in all of his poems, of the wonderment inherent to nature and the human condition within nature.
I have always had trouble with this poem because for me, learning about science makes me more…