Walt Whitman wrote a poem called "When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer" that talks about the difference between the knowledge you get from studying, and the knowledge you get from your senses. The poem is written in free verse, which means it doesn't have a set rhyme scheme or meter. This gives poetry more freedom and expressiveness. In the first verse of “When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer”, the speaker is listening to a lecture by a "learn’d astronomer." At first, the speaker is excited about the lecture and the chance to learn about the stars and planets. As the lecture goes on, however, the speaker seems to lose interest in what is being said. The words of the astronomer feel dry and dull and they make the speaker sound tired and over it. Also, the word "wearisome" suggests that the speaker is not only physically tired but also mentally and emotionally drained by the lecture. In the second verse, the speaker leaves the lecture and goes outside to see the stars in the night sky. The stars and moon are “gliding out” the astronomer said, which differs from what the astronomer said earlier, which is dry and dull. When the speaker looks up at the stars, he feels a sense of wonder and awe. …show more content…
The astronomer's talk is "just an illusion," and the speaker knows that hearing about the stars and planets is not the same as seeing them in person. Referring to the phrase “the mystical moist night-air” is a metaphor for the beauty and wonder of the natural world, which cannot be entirely captured by scientific study. In the last verse of the poem, the speaker concludes that intellectual study is important, but it shouldn't take the place of experiencing the natural world. When he says, “Look’d up in the perfect silence at the stars” referring to being in a location where the person cannot be disturbed while looking in the light of the