I was all set up to share some Robert Creeley this week until I stumbled upon this poem and remembered how much I love it. So this week, Whitman, and Mr. Creeley can just wait till next.
When I Heard the Learned 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 diagrams, to add, divide, and measure them...
Go here for the rest of this poem. And if you don't already own a book of Whitman's poetry, it is worth exploring.
Here's an audio recording of Whitman reading some of "America." In case you want to hear his voice. It's pretty scratchy, but there are pictures with it to distract you.
5 comments:
That sounds like where I am right now. Metaphorically staring in silence at the stars.
Loveliness. Sheer loveliness. Thanks.
This is my brain at the moment:
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.
oh! I just loved hearing his voice! He sounds like my grandfather. :-) And the Learned Astronomer poem is one of my favorites, too.
I often find myself looking up in perfect silence at the stars. One of my favorite things to do actually.
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