Whitman's Essay 'When I Heard The Learn' D Astronomer

429 Words2 Pages
Published in 1865, the poem “When I heard the Learn’d Astronomer,” by Walt Whitman, explores the insignificance of studying the mysteries of life. Through the transition from the class lecture in the beginning to the speaker being outside alone at the end, Whitman shows the disinterest the speaker has developed in regards to studying facts. Things that are mysterious, like astronomy, should be kept a mystery. This compares to the mysteries of life. Life is interesting because we do not know everything, we need time to just absorb what we are seeing, and not analyze and study everything. Some of the most beautiful things can be mysterious, we do not need to know every detail of life. The poem is read from the perspective of a student. Whitman