Question

when I heard learned astronomer . In first half of the poem , who is the poet whit and what is he doing​

Answer 1

Whitman first published "When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer" in 1865 in his poetry collection Drum-Taps. In the poem, Whitman conveys his belief in the limits of using science to understand nature. Rather, Whitman suggests, one needs to experience nature for true understanding, instead of measuring it.

In the first half of the poem, the setting is a lecture room where an astronomer is lecturing to an audience on the subject of the stars. The speaker, however, soon leaves this lecture room and goes outside.