Question

Analyze Whitman uses parallelism, the repetition of a grammatical structure, in lines 1-4. Describe what is parallel in these lines. What impression of the astronomer's lecture does the parallelism create?

Answer 1

The impression of the astronomer's lecture  create a sense of boredom.The character gets bored by the lecture and goes outside to see the beauty of the stars.

Explanation:

The lines form the Whitman poem When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer are

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 diagrams, to add, divide, and measure them,

When I was sitting heard the astronomer where he lectured with much applause in the lecture-room,

Few Examples of Parallelism in the lines mentioned above are

• the proofs,  the figures,
• the charts and diagrams, to add, divide, and measure them,

The impression of the astronomer's lecture  create a sense of boredom.The character gets bored by the lecture and goes outside the class  to appreciate the beauty of the stars.