The title of the poem written by Walt Whitman is the first line, and it reinforces its meaning. The poem presents two characters: the poet and the astronomer, the former listening to the latter. The astronomer is immediately connoed as an educated person. This is underlined  further in the text by his knowledge of the scientific method and his  appreciation by the listening audience. The only one who does not appreciate the astronomer’s lecture is the poet himself, who soon becomes tired with the lecture and seeks refuge in the contemplation of nature.

The poet’s language is very simple amd makes also use of contracted forms. However, the words used to describe the astronomer’s work are subject specific (charts, diagrams, measure). This is possibly due to a contrast between the poet and the astronomer in their way to see the world: the coldness and scientific nature of the astronomer’s in opposition to the instinctive contemplation of nature’s beauty of the poet’s. This is the poet’s criticism of the astronomer, who cannot understand the immediate beauty of the natural world (symbolized by the stars) with his scientific approach. However, the scientific method seems to triumph in the poet’s world: the astronomer’s lecture is received with applauses. This reflects the state of things in the world during the XIX century: science is deeply-rooted in Western culture since Galileo and Copernicus’s discoveries during the XVI century. In this way, the poet’s contrast with the rest of the world is even more remarkable and unexpected.