When I heard the learn'd astronomer,
When the proofs, the figures, were arranged in columns before me,
When I was shown the charts and diagrams, to add, divide and measure them,
When I, sitting, heard the astronomer where he lectured with much applause in his lecture room
How soon unaccountable, I became tired and sick
Till rising and gliding out I wander'd out by my self,
In the mystical moist night air, and from time to time,
Looked up in perfect silence at the stars.



Walt Whitman