The Walt Whitman Archive
Published Works
Books by Whitman
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - [begin page 380] - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
WHEN I HEARD THE LEARN'D ASTRONOMER.
WHEN I heard the learn'd astronomer;
When the proofs, the figures, were ranged in columns
before me;
before me;
When I was shown the charts and the diagrams, to add,
divide, and measure them;
divide, and measure them;
When I, sitting, heard the astronomer, where he lec-
tured with much applause in the lecture-room,
tured 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.