When I Heard the Learn'd AstronomerWalt WhitmanWhen 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 applausein 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.
Dinner tonight: beef noodle soup, cole slaw, chocolate ice-cream sundaes.
2 comments:
I love Whitman.
When the 11th graders read excerpts from "Leaves of Grass" this year, one girl approached me and said "He wrote a whole book of these poems? I want to read them!"
I am also lobbying to get LoG included in our canon as a fulllength work, like a novel or play.
Rave on, Dawn.
And of course, you're going to have to deal with the homosexuality in LoG. And of course, the students need--and want--to deal with it. And of course, somebody on the school board will complain. And of course, your administration will suggest that you "tone down" old Walt. Pisses me off. As far as I'm concerned, a unit on Whitman is worth a thousand squishy Interpersonal Relations classes.
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