To complete this assignment, you need to add, delete, rearrange, and clarify the text of the following rough draft: Everyone experiences nature differently, but most people find themselves in awe of nature from time to time.
Poets often share this awe of nature in their poems. "When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer" tells the story of listening to a lecture by an astronomer and being overwhelmed by charts and figures and the way everyone seems to like being indoors listening to someone talk about a natural phenomenon that is right outside. Whitman makes the experience of listening to this lecture sound much more boring and unenlightening than looking at the stars themselves. This essay will also discuss "324" by Emily Dickinson. Whitman and Dickinson use different poetic devices.
Whitman's poem, "When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer," talks about being indoors while learning about the stars. He writes about hearing an astronomer talk. Whitman uses a long list of math words and descriptions of numbers and charts. He also says people clap a lot at the lecture. Whitman talks about how he feels during the lecture, which is not good. Later, Whitman leaves the lecture room and experiences nature firsthand as he looks up at the stars.
In her poem "324," Dickinson also expresses reverence for nature. Whitman is clearly unhappy in parts of his poem, but Dickinson seems exuberant and untroubled. Dickinson uses poetic devices. For example, she uses a metaphor when she says that her "church" has "a Bobolink for a Chorister – / And an Orchard, for a Dome / Some keep the Sabbath in Surplice – / I just wear my Wings – / And instead of tolling the Bell, for Church, / Our little Sexton – sings" (lines 3-8). Dickinson ends her poem like this: "God preaches, a noted Clergyman – / And the sermon is never long, / So instead of getting to Heaven, at last – / I'm going, all along" (9-12). This ending rhymes and gives a feeling of finality. Whitman's ending is good too, but it doesn't use any imagery, which is visual details. It should include a description of what the stars look like, and instead, it only uses words to show how the air feels to Whitman while he walks.
Like I said, everyone experiences nature differently. I actually like being inside. I get what Whitman and Dickinson are saying because I also feel bored when I'm stuck sitting for a long time like in an astronomy lecture or in church or in school too. But I don't rush outside to get rid of boredom. I go to the gym, which is inside and not in nature, but it has basketball hoops, which are a relief to me.