Question

What do the stars do for the speaker of "When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer" that the lecture hall does not?

a. The stars offer first-hand knowledge.
b. The stars offer inspiration for a poem.
c. The stars stimulate the speaker’s need to write.
d. The stars inspire the speaker to pursue further knowledge.

Answer 1

A.

Step-by-step explanation:

'When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer' is a poem written by Walt Whitman. The poem is a narrative that reports the conflict between learning and experiencing.

The speaker of the poem attends a lecture by a learned astronomer but got bored with the lecture. The astronomer provided the facts about the stars using charts, graphs, etc. The speaker after getting bored stepped out of the lecture hall and looked up at the stars.

While observing the stars in complete silence, the speaker tells the readers that the wisdom from the wise alone can not provide the information about nature. The information about nature can be only found in experiencing nature at first-hand.

The stars provide first-hand information to the speaker that the lecture could not provide. So, the correct answer is option A.