"When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer"

Random Poetry List LXVIII

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 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,
Iin the mystical moist night-air, and from time to time,
Look'd up in perfect silence at the stars.

Walt Whitman (American, 1819-1892)

Originally e-mailed on Sunday, August 22, 1999 @ 8:48 PM

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Tue. 08/22/06 07:28:15 AM
Categorized as Literary & Random Poetry List.