Learning Paths » 5C Interacting
Analysis "When I heard the learn'd astronomer"
by - (2011-10-04)
Up to 5C - Methodological Module for Textual Analysis
Reading the title "When I heard the learn'd astronomer" the reader can think that the poet will talk about a reaction which is happened when he heard an astronomer. In the title the rhyme between "heard" and "learn'd" catches the reader's attention and the astronomer's explenation.
The poem is organised in one stanza of ten line and is written using the tecnique of the free verse.
This poem for contents can be composed in two parts; the first part go from line 1 to 4, and the second from 5 to 8. In the first part the poet talks about what the astonomer show to the public repeating the word "when" at the begin of every line; in the first part the poet don't talks about his mood or his feeling; he only talks about the room where he is sitted.
In the second part the poet start to express his feeling using words like "tired" or "sick"; he is in peace with himself only when he looks the stars "in perfect silence"; the poet "myself" and "mystical" show the poet's Romantic way of thinking.
The contrast between the first and second part comes from the necessity of the poet to see stars; for the romantic poet isn't enough hearing to an astronomer's lesson about stars: a Romantic must live this experience in first person; for this reason the only moment when he is calm is when he looks sky.