This essay must be about ONE of the two poems listed below:

br This essay must be about ONE of the two poems listed below

When I Heard the Learn 'd Astronomer` by Walt Whitman Whitman 's mood in the poem "When I Heard the Learn 'd Astronomer " is one of loneliness and romanticism . The impact of the poem relies on the transmission of emotions which humanity has only partially recognized and understood : namely a combination of nostalgia and confrontation with the future , as well as a devotion to nature and the unsolvable riddle of existence . In to heighten the sense of contrast and between

the modern and "natural " worlds , Whitman uses the imagery of the astronomer 's work-related paraphenelia to place in opposition to the closing nature-imagery of the poem "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 (Untermeyer 280

The impact of the imagery of the astronomer 's tools is to paint a picture in the reader 's mind of a crowded , somewhat chaotic assemblage of modern tools , images which evoke studied concentration and the human capacity to regin in nature , to control and dominate the natural world The verbs "add , divide , and measure " speak of dull , methodical tasks and imply , without direct expression , the fatigue and monotony of science and to some degree , also , the intrusiveness and destructiveness of science . The following lines "When I sitting heard the astronomer where he lectured / with much applause in the lecture-room (Untermeyer 280 shows that the speaker (who is not applauding ) feels alienated from the certainty and faith in science evidenced by the crowd . The speaker of the poem moves deeper into isolation rather than into a communal sense of triumph over nature . The phrase "When I sitting (Untermeyer 280 -- demonstrates that the speaker of the poem rather than applauding rather than listening closely , has embraced a kind of innate skepticism about science and astronomy which has set him apart from the crowd

When the speaker of the poem finally confesses "How soon unaccountable , I became tired and sick " the reader is able to make the connection between the previously understated isolation of the poem 's speaker and the scientific revelry of his community . Now the reader is certain that the poem 's speaker is not only unsettled by the scientific lecture , but offended by it , not merely skeptical about science but threatened by it , and and to feel sick inside . The poem 's speaker , who up to this point , had been only mildly disaffected and alienated now confesses a deep , complex and sinister emotion of fear coupled with alienation

The sensitive reader will intuit a cause for the manifestation of the speaker 's alienation and this reason is not merely boredom or skepticism but the intuitive understanding that science threatens mankind . As it also threatens the natural world . When the speaker of the poem leaves the lecture hall , the supposition that he has intuitively perceived the "demonic " of destructive side of science is...