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.

By Walt Whitman

Either I'm way ahead of the game, or Will Self is stealing ideas from me.

http://books.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,,2289212,00.html

http://books.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,,2289211,00.html

the dirty fecker.