Five Annotated Poems

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,
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' doff by myself,
In the mystical moist night-air, and from time to time,
Look' up in perfect silence at the stars.
In When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer, Walt Whitman tells a story of a regular bystander watching an
astronomer lecture about his findings. The speaker is listening to the "learn'd astronomer," meaning an
astronomer that is experienced and has knowledge about astronomy. The astronomer displayed charts
and diagrams to explain the math and the measurements he has calculated. The speaker heard the
audience applause, and his mood changed. The speaker stated directly he did not feel very well, and
decided to leave the room. He wandered outside, and stared at the stars. Whitman wanted to create a
distinct difference between knowledge and wisdom by using that as one of his themes in this poem.
Knowledge is gained by culture such as equations and mathematic problems. Wisdom is gained by
experience. Whitman creates a shift in the poem when he stops using the word "when" to start his lines.
This creates a shift in the speaker's mood. Whitman clearly explains that the speaker believes that
wisdom is more important than knowledge. Whitman shows this through the speaker's actions and
internal thoughts. I agree with Whitman's views that wisdom is more important than knowledge.
Knowledge is important, but wisdom is what can truly change the way you look at things. Whitman does
not incorporate figurative language in this poem, and states directly what is happening. Whitman should
have incorporated some metaphors or similes to describe more of what the speaker was experiencing
during his time in the lecture-room with the astronomer.
Whispers of Heavenly Death

Whispers of heavenly death, murmur'd I hear,
Labial gossip of nightsibilant chorals,
Footsteps gently ascendingmystical breezes, wafted soft and
low,
Ripples of unseen riverstides of current, flowing, forever
flowing,
(Or is it the plashing of tears? the measureless waters of human tears?)
I see, just see, skyward, great cloud-masses,
Mournfully, slowly they roll, silently swelling and mixing,
With, at times, a half-dimm'd, sadden'd far-off star,
Appearing and disappearing.
(Some parturition, rather some solemn, immortal birth;
On the frontiers, to eyes impenetrable,
Some Soul is passing over.)
In Whispers of Heavenly Death, the speaker hears death murmur, gossip, and create hissing memories.
He hears footsteps that are quietly coming over with winds that are "soft and low." There are rivers and
tides that are flowing with ripples and uses symbolism to compare rivers with human tears. The speaker
starts to see large clouds in the sky coming toward him. These clouds slowly come over, and there are
times in which they appear and disappear. The speaker then includes a side note in which death is an
immortal birth and that a soul was passing over during this time. Whitman creates the message of this
poem thematically by stating death is beautiful as well as sad. There are many examples of imagery and
euphemism in this poem, which help create the theme that death is beautiful. Whitman is trying to come
across the idea that death can be something that is "heavenly" rather than to be feared or something
terrible. There is a connotation about death that most people think of. Death is scary and is something
you should dread in life. Whitman goes against this connotation and explains death as if it is something
you should not dread, and is "heavenly" to some people. Whitman includes personification to further
the theme that death is also a beautiful thing. I personally agree that death is inevitable and you cannot
escape it. Since death is inevitable, the best thing you should do is not dread or be feared by it. If you are
analysts worrying about death, then you will not live life to the fullest. Accepting that death is there and
that it can be a beautiful thing will take stress out of your life. I liked the way Whitman used imagery
and personification to explain what he was talking about.
Grand Is the Seen

Grand is the seen, the light, to megrand are the sky and
stars,
Grand is the earth, and grand are lasting time and space,
And grand their laws, so multiform, puzzling,
evolutionary;
But grander far the unseen soul of me, comprehending,
endowing all those,
Lighting the light, the sky and stars, delving the earth,
sailing the sea,
(What were all those, indeed, without thee, unseen soul? of
what amount without thee?)
More evolutionary, vast, puzzling, O my soul!
More multiform farmore lasting thou than they.
In the poem Grand Is the Seen, the speaker immediately starts explaining what is grand including the
seen, the light, the sky, the stars, etc. The speaker starts to list other things he believes are greater than
grand. It is clear that the speaker believes the things unseen are grander than what is seen. Things that
are lighting the light and the unseen soul are more grander than thing a such as laws and the stars. He
adds a side note asking what amount of his soul is unknown. The speaker has very opinionated views
about what is grand or great. Whitman is trying to explain that the things you are able to see are not
always the greatest thing there is. The grandest thing is the unknown and the things you are unable to
see or know. He believes that the unknown is beautiful and alluring because no one has any knowledge to
explain further of what it is. Walt Whitman uses descriptive language and words to explain how amazing
the unknown is. Words like "delving" and "evolutionary" resonate with the he readers. I do agree with
his opinion that the unknown is grander than the known. His descriptive language is very strong and I
like the way he uses it to explain the things he believes is more important and amazing.
The Unexpress'd
How dare one say it?
After the cycles, poems, singers, plays,
Vaunted Ionia's, India's -Homer, Shakespeare -the long,
long times, thick dotted roads, areas,
The shining clusters and the Milky Ways of stars -Nature's
pulses reaped,
All retrospective passions, heroes, war, love, adoration,
All ages' plummets dropped to their utmost depths,
All human lives, throats, wishes, brains -all experiences'
utterance;
After the countless songs, or long or short, all tongues, all
lands,
Still something not yet told in poesy's voice or print -s
omething lacking,
(Who knows? the best yet unexpressed and lacking.)
The Unexpress'd is a poem similar to Whitman's poem Grand is the Seen. The speaker starts the poem
with a question indirectly asked to someone. The speaker starts listing the accomplishments the human
race has done throughout history. He includes famous people such as Shakespeare and Homer. He also
names the Milky Way and other places. As well as famous things, he also names smaller
accomplishments such as books and songs written and different people's experiences. Whitman then
includes his own personal side note that poses another question, and he includes his own personal
statement to his question. Whitman explains the morale of this poem through allusions. He does mention
many famous places and famous writers that have created a difference in the world. There are many
types of writing that has been produced and has made a large impact on people, but the emotions and
feelings that have not been expressed are the most important ones. This is what Whitman is trying to
convey in this poem. People tend to not show their most intense feelings, and Whitman is saying that
those feelings and emotions that are not expressed are ones of great importance. I agree with Whitman's
views that these emotions are the ones that matter most. People hide certain emotions they are feeling
and do not talk about them nor write about them even though they are significant. Whitman
incorporates the use of allusions to describe further of this theme. The readers are able to decipher the
true meaning of the poem.
Of Him I Love Day and Night

Of him I love day and night, I dreamd I heard he was dead;
And I dreamd I went where they had buried him I love,
but he was not in that place;
And I dreamd I wanderd, searching among burial-places to
find him;
And I found that every place was a burial-place;
The houses full of life were equally full of death, (this house
is now,)
The streets, the shipping, the places of amusement, the
Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, the Mannahatta, were as
full of the dead as of the living,
And fuller, O vastly fuller, of the dead than of the living;
And what I dreamd I will henceforth tell to every person
and age,
And I stand henceforth bound to what I dreamd;

And now I am willing to disregard burial-places, and
dispense with them,
And if the memorials of the dead were put up indifferently
everywhere, even in the room where I eat or sleep, I
should be satisfied,
And if the corpse of any one I love, or if my own corpse, be
duly renderd to powder, and pourd in the sea, I shall be
satisfied,
Or if it be distributed to the winds, I shall be satisfied.
In the poem Of Him I Love Day and Night, the speaker starts with how he or she loves a man day and
night and that hey had dreamed that he was dead. The speaker went to the burial place where they put
him, but he was not there. The speaker then started dreaming that she looked at different burial places
to try and find him, but he or she realized that all places she looked was a burial place. The speaker
explains that the houses that used to be full of life were now full of death. The speaker names some
famous cities including Chicago and Boston to state that these places were full of the dead as well. He or
she states that there is a bigger world of the dead than of the living. The speaker realizes that everywhere
you go, it is a burial place. At the end of the poem the speaker makes a statement that if any person she
loves dies, she will be okay with them being poured in the sea, distributed to the winds, and to be
cremated. Whitman describes that everywhere you go, there will be death. Burial-places will not make a
difference of how much you miss that person, or the emotions you will endure during this time. Whitman
describes this through the theme of death is everywhere. Once again, I agree that death is inevitable and
will be everywhere on the world. No matter where you go, death will be there. Whitman uses descriptive
language and punctuation to explain this theme. Whitman often does not use contractions correctly. In
this poem it is very evident because it shows up multiple times in words like "render'd" and "pour'd."
The incorrect use of punctuation draws the attention of the readers.

Five Annotated Poems

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Five Annotated Poems

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When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer

When I heard the learn'd astronomer,

Whispers of Heavenly Death

Grand Is the Seen

Of Him I Love Day and Night

And I stand henceforth bound to what I dreamd;

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