Heard the Learned Astronomer Walt Whitman\'s Poems

¶ … 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: "Following this Whitman says, '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.' This is to say that even with all of the astronomer's sophisticated equations and equipment, nothing that he can prove scientifically is capable of grasping the pure beauty of the unexplainable awe bounding universe." I think your word 'awe' is very important. 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 appreciative of the wonder of the natural world. For me, stars can seem like pinpoints in the sky and little else, but when I learn about how they look close up, and the way in which light travels through the night, I can appreciate the stars much more. I also like learning about the different formations of the constellations and the various stories behind the constellations. But Whitman's reproach of the astronomer for being overly confident and thinking that science and math can understand EVERYTHING does seem warranted, and your response was extremely illuminating in that regard.