"When I heard the learn'd astronomer,
When the proofs, the figures, were ranged in columns before me,
Whe I was shown the charts and diagrams, to add, divide, and measure them,
When I sitting heard the astronomer where he lectured with much applause in 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."
I feel this way in college all the time. College is meant to be higher learning, it's meant to be what others have found in this exact way, "Look[ing] up in perfect silence at the stars." Unfortunately, there's something so wonderfully awe-inspiring about that, and college has taken that away. College is a wonderful oppurtunity, I assure you, but I have found that forced learning doesn't do much for the mind or the soul.
Those times, when we can "look", brings more depth and more learning than what he describes happening in the lecture room--babbling.
Look at the way even the poem is formed (I do this with my own poetry)--the lines run on and on without a comma, giving us the feel of the overwhelming situation. Then, at the end, it's the shortest sentence in the whole poem, feels like a relaxed breath.
"Look'd up in perfect silence at the stars."
It is in this short sentence we could dissect many things--fearing and loving God, awe of the universe, the importance of those quiet moments in your life--but I will let you see what you want. I'm sure that's what Whitman wanted.
