An Analysis of "What I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer" by Walt Whitman

The use of breaks and omission in the diction in this poem does much to impress the reader of the narrator's feelings about the astronomer's lecture and the almost mystical connection between the narrator and the stars that astronomer's study.

The purposeful use of breaks in structure and omission of words in the diction of the author allow for the audience to be impressed of certain aspects of the message of the poem. When the narrator relates what he learned from astronomer, he does not use the conjunction of "and" when one would usually use one in the portion "When the proofs, the figures, were ranged in columns before me". This omission gives the audience the impression that a large amount of information has been received by the narrator. This impression gives the audience the idea that this information is cumbersome and that the narrator treats it with little differentiation and possibly with a growing element of apathy or disdain. The listing of different figures and actions to be performed in the light of the craft soon brings the narrator to the point that he laments "I soon became sick and tired". This portion of the poem is included in a line that breaks the structure of the poem thus far. The first three lines have their content all neatly stacked in one manner with a certain way of going about how it is formatted. If not all the of the sentence fits on one line, then it forms an indentation. This format forms a law within the poem. A pattern to follow. What is more, these lines all start with "When" thus lending to this idea of a formulaic pattern to the portion of the poem that relates the narrator's experience of the astronomer's lecture. Thus, the formulaic and patterned form of the poem at this point reflects the formulaic and monotonous lecture of the astronomer and gives the reader an idea of what the narrator perceives within the lecture.

The last four lines constitutes one sentence and is a major departure form the form of the first half of the poem. This portion of the poem contrasts a great deal with the first half in both content and format. While the first half of the poem adheres to a strict format, the second half is much more whimsical and runs on with comma while the first half is punctuated with periods. The narrator's reverence and mysticism with the stars is an unbound feeling that shapes the last four lines into an ongoing experience while the first half was a compartmentalized and textbook outlook on the stars. Thus, the we arrive at a possible view of a science as a dry and unfeeling method of experience and the primary wonder that moves people to explore the world. The narrator makes a distinction between the passion and the method of the accrument and pursuit of knowledge and understanding of the world around us.