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WhenIHeardTheLearndAstronomer 5 - 21 Apr 2012 - Main.RyanBingham
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| | Walt Whitman (1819–1892). Leaves of Grass. 1900. When I heard the Learn’d Astronomer
WHEN I heard the learn’d astronomer; When the proofs, the figures, were ranged in columns before me; When I was shown the charts and the diagrams, to add, divide, and measure them; 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, In the mystical moist night-air, and from time to time, Look’d up in perfect silence at the stars. | | | Now, when I look back at this poem, it feels a little naive - like the easy way out, for me at least. I'd like to admire from afar and condemn parts of it at will, look for something more useful, but I think what needs to happen is a deep and comprehensive learning of the ugly parts, so I can use whatever I learn to make other beautiful things happen.
SherieGertler 20 Apr 2012 | |
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> | I like the comparison of law to astronomy. Similar to the stars in the sky, the law always seemed to me to be an overwhelmingly complex and powerful thing, separate from and floating above us--so much bigger than any one mind could ever hope to understand. Since starting into law school, and especially since coming into contact with Eben's thoughts on the relatively weak nature of the law, I've started thinking about it differently. Where the stars are very separate from our individual and collective volitions, and essentially subject only to observation, the law demands more than observation. If we are doing our work, we will get to build up some portion of the firmament for ourselves--or reframe it, subvert it, or destroy it.
RyanBingham 21 Apr 2012 |
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