'324 And When I Heard The Learn' D Astronomer

Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman are two of the most talented writers even though their style of poetry differed. Dickinson was generally a quiet person while Whitman loved to explore. Both writers loved poetry and expressing their feelings through them. “324” is a poem written by Emily Dickinson where she talks about a person who learns to understand God in their own ways through nature rather than going to church. Walt Whitman’s poem, “When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer,” is about a person who learned about astronomy in their own way by exploring nature instead of listening to a teacher lecture in an astronomy class. Although the purpose of these poems is different, the poetic devices used throughout both poems makes them similar. Even though Whitman and Dickinson use different tones and rhyme schemes, both of their poems express romanticism and strong imagery. Emily Dickinson’s writing style in “324” consists of her unique rhyme …show more content…
In Whitman’s poem, he uses nature to help him understand astronomy more. Romanticism is displayed in the poem to encourage readers to become immersed in the strong imagery. An instance is, “In the mystical moist night-air, and from time to time / Look’d up in perfect silence at the stars” (lines 7-8.) In this poem, the character is not focusing on their astronomy class and decides to take their own path to learn more on their own. They express how the only way to learn it is to experience it yourself, “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” (lines 4-6). Whitman’s use of strong literary devices contributes to the image he is trying to show. In conclusion, this is how Whitman’s unique poem relates to