Transcendentalist Theory in Whitman's "When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer"
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document in English
literature
book review
published 18/08/2007
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Summary
Walt Whitman, a well-known Transcendentalist, believed that humans are an intrinsic part of nature and that they share in an intimate relationship. His poem "When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer" illustrates communion with the natural world, which encourages understanding. It then contrasts this view with the purely scientific view of nature that distances humans from the natural world. In this poem, the Transcendentalist view of the stars is held by the poem's persona, most likely Whitman himself, and the strictly scientific view is held by the astronomer. Because of this, the astronomer spends all his time with scientific calculations and misses the true beauty of the stars. Only when the persona or speaker tires of the astronomer's lecture and goes outside to actually look at the stars does he learn anything. Whitman's "When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer" is an excellent example of how form and poetic devices can assist in establishing a poem's theme.
Table of Contents
- The first four lines focus on the astronomer's lecture, while the last four lines shift to the speaker
- In addition, while the poem does not seem to have a set meter throughout, it does possess a definite rhythm
- Whitman also uses the diction of the poem to develop his theme
- Although Whitman uses few rhymes in When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer, he employs other patterns of sound
- All these poetic elements help to establish the tone of the poem. In this case, the tone is not constant
- Finally, Whitman utilizes one last literary device, situational irony, to emphasize the theme in "When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer."
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