When I heard the Learn’d Astronomer by Walt Whitman
When I heard the learn’d astronomer;
When the proofs, the figures, were ranged in columns before me;
When I was shown the charts and the diagrams, to add, divide, and measure them;
When I, sitting, heard the astronomer, where he lectured with much applause in the lecture-room,
How soon, unaccountable, I became tired and sick;
Till rising and gliding out, 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.
- Explain the poem's two contrasting perspectives concerning the night sky.
Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh
Read and annotate this article: Whitman and Van Gogh: Starry Nights and Other Similarities
1.What did Van Gogh think about Whitman’s poetry?
2. List the similarities between Van Gogh and Whitman mentioned in the article.
3. What evidence does the article offer for its comparisons?
Homework: Finish article and questions (if you did not do so in class). Read (at least) one more poem of your choosing from Leaves of Grass.
