Walt Whitman's "When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer" and Iconic Realism

Adler Planetarium Astronomy Museum, Art Institute of Chicago

When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer

by Walt Whitman

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 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.

Above is a poem by the American poet, Walt Whitman. Here, the speaker leaves an astronomy lecture to step outside the fixed parameters and subsequently, learns first-hand the beauty in viewing the same firmament of which the lecturer speaks, but viewed simply with the naked eye, in silence. By leaving the lecture, the speaker has knowledge shared by the astronomer inside and now enjoys the silent beauty with appreciated knowledge. More importantly, the speaker has appreciation of the significance of the stars’ natural state. 

This poem illustrates iconic realism in that the subject, constellations in a contrived setting, brings the audience (the speaker in the poem) to a recognition that education of natural phenomena directly connects humanity with nature. 

I warmly thank the Art Institute of Chicago for purchasing a copy of my book, The Theory of Iconic Realism: Understanding the Arts through Cultural Context.

White Wolves-"Fear" and Iconic Realism

Click HERE to view video

In this beautiful musical presentation by IceFloeSoul, with lyrics sung by Sarah McLachlan's mystical voice, the concept of stewardship once again appears through the illustration of the iconic white wolf in late winter/early spring, a symbol of freedom. This video lets the audience see this animal and hear its haunting voice, along with voices of other animals and sights of natural parallel structures. The juxtaposition of this visual and aural experience with contemporary music and words that describe a love theme provides the audience with awareness of the human connection to and responsibility for maintenance of a healthful environment, alerting us to possible limitations of freedom and corollary fear, if we are not watchful.  

Irish Music and Iconic Realism in Sydney Owenson's piece, "When Floating O'er"

 

Sydney Owenson (Lady Morgan) and Harp

from my book cover, 

a special acknowledgment to the New York Public Library

From my presentation at an annual Conference of the Association of Franco-Irish Studies, Dublin, Ireland: 

The Irish melody, “When Floating O’er: Cathleen Nolan” from Sydney Owenson’s 1803 collection, Twelve Original Hibernian Melodies, demonstrates an iconic vision and focuses the audience’s attention on iconic elements associated with late 18th - early 19th century Ireland that deal with transformation. This particular piece demonstrates my semiotic theory of iconic realism in that it complies with the following necessary components of my theory: 

1.    The presence of a realistic icon: a representation of Cathleen ni Houlihan. 

2.   Deliberate placement of the icon within the midst of a unique, realistic setting out of place for this particular icon: lyrical and musical choices. 

3.  A created dissonance between these two entities as the catalyst that generates audience enlightenment of a cultural dilemma in need of transformation: Irish awareness of cultural valor.  

In Owenson’s compilation entitled, Twelve Original Hibernian Melodies, published in 1803, one melody, “When Floating Oér,” contains lyrics that relate directly to the Irish iconic figure, Cathleen ni Houlihan. She situates the essence of this character as one who is ubiquitous yet elusive, much like segments of Irish culture at the onset of the nineteenth century.  

Not only did Owenson’s nineteenth century listening audience experience the pleasant melody of this tune, they also were able to interpret the lyrics as an Irish romantic memory or a realization that a change in the historical relevance of Irish history was at hand. Playing this piece and other Irish melodies on her harp, Owenson exhibited iconic realism by bringing attention of Irish history, plucked on soothing strings. Perhaps, her attempt was to lull her audience into a state of acceptance or awaken them gradually by means of intense harmonics. 

Thus, the utility of music as a means of representing the semiotic theory of iconic realism involves a multiple sensory application in connection with sound wave production and its effect on human cognition. Whether the connection originates from a classical music composition, sounds of nature, or a synthesized production, juxtaposition of an iconic sound with an aspect of realism produces an auditory response that ultimately can lead to an audience’s awareness of positive change, be it cultural or individual.

Wisdom from Saint Seraphim of Sarov and the Great Outdoors

Saint Seraphim of Sarov, monument in Kurskaya Oblast, Russia.

It's Spring, and I thoroughly enjoy observing and interacting with the wildlife that surround me. I whistle with the birds, hoot with the owls, clear dead leaves, branches, and twigs for the sprouting flowers and other vegetation, readying them for the bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds soon to arrive. Spring is joyful to me.

Through the wisdom of Saint Seraphim of Sarov, we can learn to live in harmony with the world around us by observing the creatures who share our Earthly experience with us. As far as iconic realism goes, we humans, who have been blessed with spirit and the ability to discern life with a high level of intelligence, can learn how to live well from the 'lesser,' yet often wiser, creatures as we appreciate the outdoors, juxtaposed with the homes of the wildlife.  

His feast day is January 2. To learn more about Saint Seraphim, click HERE .

Words of Wisdom from Saint Seraphim of Sarov

Drink water from the spring where horses drink. The horse will never drink bad water.

Lay your bed where the cat sleeps.

Eat the fruit that has been touched by a worm.

Boldly pick the mushroom on which the insects sit.

Plant the tree where the mole digs.

Build your house where the snake sits to warm itself.

Dig your fountain where the birds hide from heat.

Go to sleep and wake up at the same time with the birds – you will reap all of the day's golden grains.

Eat more green – you will have strong legs and a resistant heart, like the beings of the forest.

Swim often and you will feel on earth like the fish in the water.

Look at the sky as often as possible and your thoughts will become light and clear.

Be quiet a lot, speak little – and silence will come into your heart, and your spirit will be calm and filled with peace.

James Joyce's Ulysses: Breathing in Natural and New Laws

Often, individuals perceive the world in terms of various human laws and semantic representations established by the community. These laws or rules of thought have been the subject of many philosophers throughout history. One such philosopher was Thomas Aquinas, who described differences between natural law and new law, represented by Christ. 

Dr. Taylor Marshall, who devoted his doctoral dissertation to Thomas Aquinas’ philosophical approach to such laws, states: 

Natural law is not the same as ‘laws of nature’ such as gravity. Natural law is an inward inclination toward the good and the avoidance of evil. It is a natural operating system. Thomas [Aquinas] explicitly teaches it is not chiefly a set of moral commandments. Rather it is an inclination humans have toward the good. (43)

Dr. Marshall continues with his discussion of Natural Law versus Thomas Aquinas’ interpretation of New Law in which he states: 

The New Law of the Gospel fulfills what is lacking in the natural law. It is required that every Christian seek to prayerfully persuade every man and woman on Earth to enter into the New Law of Christ.” (44) 

In his novel, Ulysses, James Joyce illustrates the manner in which human beings manage these laws, both Natural and New, as he weaves in and out of Leopold Bloom’s odyssey as if he were a spirit, acknowledging the human frailties and the responsibilities that many leave deposited along the wayside of their life’s journeys. He utilizes Bloom’s adventure to reveal this spiritual arc to the reader through a combination of language, human interactions, and observations.

As a reader of Joyce’s Ulysses inhales and exhales this linguistic masterpiece, an opportunity exists to affect change in the reader’s consciousness and perhaps even in one’s own community. Through his configuration of various linguistic and literary styles to illustrate various societal constraints, Joyce presents his reading audience with views of his own cognitive dissonance, represented as the other through Leopold Bloom, as well as the distinction between the Irish consciousness and that of other countries in Europe during the first world war years. 

Joyce releases his own constraints and embraces the possibilities associated with challenging stereotypes, linguistic barriers and cultural standards. He creates his own version of Nature and New Laws. His extensive references to elitist whims within this novel contribute to the iconic intricacies of dissonant cultures existing in the midst of a torn tapestry of Dublin and Europe as the people deal with the post and pre- world wars. Indeed, Joyce’s use of iconic realism throughout his novel, Ulysses, creates an awareness of the need for cultural change.

Marshall, Taylor, Ph.D., Thomas Aquinas in Fifty Pages, Electronic Copyright, Texas, U.S.A., 2013. 

James Joyce's 'Ulysses,' Winds of War, and Iconic Realism

Winds photo from Google Images

Inhaling and expelling of air exists in James Joyce's Ulysses chapter, Scylla and Charybdis, with the obnoxious expelling of high verbiage between Stephen Daedalus and the other scholars. Here, Joyce employs the use of linguistic empowerment of those who 'have' against those who 'have not'…or very little. Joyce, through Stephen, refers to those who do not understand the human spirit as the ‘vegetable world.’ He decides to stay firmly planted in the present, “through which all future plunges to the past” (Blamires 77). Here, Joyce reveals an interesting foreshadowing of worldly events with which only the current reader can relate, for within 25 years of this writing, the world will revisit Joyce’s own recent experience with WWI through WWII. 

How does this foreshadowing illustrate iconic realism? Joyce reveals highly intellectual ideas through intelligent characters who have issues communicating with those less intellectual, in other words, those who may view their world with a more common sense approach. Through this juxtaposition, Joyce actually pokes fun at the 'highly educated' as a group of snobs who have trouble relating to the majority of society. This was written between WWI and WWII, and much miscommunication was occurring in the higher echelons of governments worldwide. Joyce breathes his own consciousness through Bloom’s passages through time. He creates his personal ‘winds of war’ as he journeys through the dissonant aspects of his life between the dates, 1918-1920. 

Blamires, Harry, The New Bloomsday Book: A Guide through Ulysses, Routledge, New York: 1997.