Poem for today: THE LEARN'D ASTRONOMER

When I heard the Learn’d Astronomer

By David Gonzalez (after Whitman)

When I heard the learn’d astronomer,

when the board filled with the arcs and symbols of the craft,

when invited to enter the idea-world beyond all I see,

when I opened the eye of my mind to the heavens

for the first time,

the astronomer curious and quiet before the mysteries,

how my heart quickened,

how my thoughts raced,

possibilities jumped headlong into the moment,

till rising and gliding out I wandered off by myself

into the night-air,

to gaze upon the brilliant puzzle of diamonds in the sky,

perfect in their silent beckoning

for understanding.

(Here is the original, tell me your thoughts dear reader)

When I heard the Learn’d Astronomer

By Walt Whitman

When I heard the learn’d astronomer; 

When the proofs, the figures, were ranged in columns before me; 

When I was shown the charts and the 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.