This poem by Walt Whitman details the experience that the narrator gains by observing something first hand, rather than hearing it from an astronomer’s lecture. Whitman implements anaphora in the poem’s first few lines. Each of these lines begins with the word “When” and two of the lines contain inexplicit lists of items and actions. These lines create a feeling of monotony that is associated by the narrator with the astronomer’s lecture. This lack of interest is contrasted with the rest of the poem, and presents the idea that learning should be a first-hand experience, not something that should occur in lectures.
The tone of this poem is very detached from its content. This is likely meant to demonstrate how little is gained from being taught something by another person, rather than discovering it on your own. The narrator is quite uncomfortable, stating “How soon unaccountable I became tired and sick.” However, the tone shifts as the narrator goes outside and “Looked up in perfect silence at the stars.” This shift represents the importance that the poem places upon experience and first-hand knowledge, the major message of the work as a whole.
This poem drew my attention because it describes the process of learning, and in this case learning about science. Whitman does not attack the teachers of such knowledge in this poem, but the students who could easily (here, as easily as walking outside and looking at the stars) experience discovery on their own. The idle learner is persecuted in this poem because it shows, very simply, that anyone who desires to learn need only to look at the primary source for the answers.
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