2025 Student Poetry Contest

Theme: ““When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer”

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.

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Prompt:

In the poem, “When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer,” Whitman exquisitely wielded free verse to tell the story of a speaker’s experience at a lecture about the stars. As the speaker listened intently to an esteemed astronomer’s scientific analysis of the cosmos, he began to wonder if the use of science to understand nature took away from its magic. After being shown “proofs,” and “figures,” the speaker decided to venture out of the lecture room and into nature to admire the stars in the night sky. Outside, he could interpret the cosmos using his own knowledge and experience.

“When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer” contains three important themes: 1: The power of wonder, 2: Knowledge gained through study vs. knowledge gained by experience, and 3: Finding beauty in the world around you (in Whitman’s case, through nature).

Whitman both in his poetry and life, sought to wholeheartedly experience the world around him. He immersed himself in the New York art scene, attended operas, supported wounded soldiers in Washington hospitals, and connected deeply to nature during his life’s journey.

In 30 lines or less, use your poetic voice to tell us what you imagine is beyond the stars. Explore your individualized experience with nature. Dive into ways that your experiences have shaped your understanding of the world around you. And, of course, don’t forget to include the contradictions, the oddities, imperfections that are YOU! Good luck!

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Submission Deadline:
Saturday, March 15, 2025

Submissions are now closed!

PDF Submission Must be saved: Last name, First Name

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Guidelines:
See below.

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Awards Ceremony:
Saturday, May 31, 2025, 12:00 noon – 2:00PM at the Birthplace

2025 STUDENT POETRY CONTEST WINNERS

GRAND CHAMPIONS

GRAND CHAMPIONS

Category A

1^st Chloe Lv / Beyond the Stars / Excel Academy

2^nd Sumner McShane  / How I Look at Nature / Trinity Lutheran School

3^rd Andrew Byun / Black Holes / Orchard Hills School

Category B

1^st Arsal Mowla / The Silent Family / Jericho Middle School

2^nd  Calissa Wong / Colorful Storms on a Night Sky / E.M. Baker Elementary School

3^rd Mackenzie Alessandro / Beyond the Stars / Connolly School

Category C

1^st Capri Gabrielson / Seeing Stars Through Shut Eyes / Mount Sinai Middle School

2^nd Caroline Chen / Live to Dream / Greenwich Count

3^rd Annabel Lin / Dreaming of Escape / Rancho San Joaquin

Category D

1^st Hana Tsai / Wise Willows / The Spence School

2^nd Helen Gou / Fruit Leather Texas / Dulles High School

3^rd Ashley Rice / In a Quiet Classroom / Sacred Heart Academy

Category E

1^st Ariel Zhang / love is a religion & i don’t believe in god, you say / Harker School

2^nd Ariana Jabbar / and still we saw the stars / Long Beach High School

3^rd Emily Gray / Beyond Measure / Sacred Heart Academy

Category F (Individual Anthology)

1^st Isabelle Eisdorfer / Nebula Collection / Half Hollow Hills High School East

2^nd Aaron Hsu / Time-Space / Jericho High School

Category G (Class Anthology Grades 3-4)

Ms. Lopez / Stardust Dreams: The Power of Wonder / Grade 4 / Birch School

Category I (Class Anthology Grades 7-8)

Nicole Pomaro / Our Journey Beyond the Stars / Grade 8 Period 8 / Mount Sinai Middle School

Category J (Class Anthology Grades 9-10)

Shannon Murphy-Miscioscia / At the Edge of the World / Grade 10 Period 1 / Oyster Bay High School

Category K (Class Anthology Grades 11-12)

Elizabeth Carrese / Beyond the Textbook: Poems of Wisdom / Grade 2 period 1 / Eastport South Manor Central School District

Category L (Multi-Media, Visual Poetry)

1^st Riley Baehr / Song of Humanity / Oyster Bay High School

2^nd Julia Milos / Here I Am / Oyster Bay High School

3^rd Giovanna Lisa / The Ram / Oyster Bay High School

HONORABLE MENTIONS

CATEGORY A (Individual Poem Grades 3-4)

Nikki Colosi – Montessori School at Old Field – Wonders of the Sky

Stanley Zinger – Mount Sinai Elementary –When I Heard the Men on TV

Michael Pramataris – Mount Sinai Elementary – Greece is Picture Perfect!

Xin-Yang Saoirse Chen – Torrey Pines Elementary School – An Astonishing Universe

Berkhan Yavuz – The Laurel Hill School – Beyond The Stars

CATEGORY B (Individual Poem Grades 5-6)

Colleen O’Donnell – Holy Child Academy – Beauty of the Seasons

Desmond Pawlowski – Cutchogue East Elementary School – Be Present

Julia Kubetz – Cutchogue East Elementary School – My Little Bright Star

Luke Xing – The Nueva School – Star Gazer

Sahra Yilmaz – The Laurel Hill School – A Midnight Blue Starry Path

Victoria Wu – E. M. Baker Elementary School – I Belong to the Stars

Emily Kim – Alice Fong Yu Alternative School – Campground Stars

CATEGORY C (Individual Poem Grades 7-8)

Alex Altop – The Laurel Hill School – Star-lit Night

Samantha Buestan Rios – Springs School – Blossom

Alexa Lin – Manhasset Secondary school – 4.24 Light Years Away

Colin Wilson – Manhasset Secondary School –The Black Ink

Razia Shaikh-Zaman – New Hyde Park Memorial High School –Beyond the Stars

Melody Fei – West Lafayette Junior Senior High School – Impartial Stars

Jessica Li – The Harker School – Uniquely Myself

CATEGORY D (Individual Poem Grades 9-10)

Rachel Lee – Dougherty Valley High School – To be a Moth

Claire Dong – Simsbury High School – Mojave Moon

Angelina Song – Greenwich High School – Spaces Between

Izabella Gonzalez – Long Beach High School – Lilies of The Valley

Gabi Sclair – Long Beach High School – The Sky in Us

Emerson Post – Manhasset Secondary School – If I Were a Star

Alana Asuncion – Plainview Old-Bethpage JFK High School – Metamorphosis of Myself

CATEGORY E (Individual Poem Grades 11-12)

Dominic Della Croce – Chaminade High School – Waning Crescent

Elaina Li – Roslyn High School – no, but yes, ’cause it’s complicated

Dylan Nola – Oyster Bay High School – Beyond The Known

Sophia Leodis – Smithtown High School East – I See Stars

Hiroto Honda – Jericho Senior High School – When I Knocked

Antonio Savastano – Chaminade High School – Beyond the Dirtball

CATEGORY L (Multi-media)

Mosie Bradley – Oyster Bay High School – The Great Beyond

Guidelines

ELIGIBILITY & ENTRANCE CATEGORIES

THEME: “When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer”
ELIGIBILITY:  Students in grades 3–12
ENTRANCE CATEGORIES:
Category A — Individual poem, grades 3–4
Category B — Individual poem, grades 5–6
Category C — Individual poem, grades 7–8
Category D — Individual poem, grades 9–10
Category E — Individual poem, grades 11–12
Category F — Individual anthology
Category G — Class anthology, grades 3–4
Category H — Class anthology, grades 5–6
Category I — Class anthology, grades 7–8
Category J — Class anthology, grades 9–10
Category K — Class anthology, grades 11–12
Category L — Multi-media

Format

1. Submit a poem of up to 30 lines or less. Longer poems will be disqualified.
2. Multi-lingual poems welcome, with English translation.
3. Individual poems MUST have the following information on EACH page or poems will be disqualified:

• • Poem title and entrance category

• • Student AND teacher’s email (address must accept outside emails.)

• • Entrant’s name, complete address, home phone number, age, and grade level.

• • School name, complete address, school phone number, and teacher’s name.

• • Teacher’s submitting multiple entries must note grade and class period on each individual poem.

4. Class anthology MUST have the following information or anthologies will be disqualified:

• • Anthology title

• • Title sheet with the entrance category, teacher’s name, grade, school name, school phone number, teacher’s email, and complete address.

• • Each poem must include the student poet’s name. Students may enter a poem in an anthology and as an individual poem.

• • All anthology poems should be in book form.

• • Teacher’s submitting multiple entries must put the title, grade, AND class period on each anthology.

Deadline: Entries must be submitted or emailed with a date stamped by March 15, 2025.

Awards

All poems and anthologies are judged by a panel of published poets selected by the Birthplace Trustees. 

• • Winners will be notified by April 25th with winners’ names posted on WWBA website by May 1st. If there is any objection to the posting of a student name, please contact Francesca Love at educator@waltwhitman.org

• • Winners’ names will be published in WWBA Award Program which will be distributed at our Awards Ceremony.

• • Awards will be distributed on Saturday, May 31st, 2025, from 12pm – 2pm, at the Awards event, held at the Walt Whitman Birthplace.

• • Renowned poet, Marilyn Chin, our 2025 Poet in Residence officiates the award ceremony.

• • Grand Champion and multiple prize winners will be awarded in each category.

• • Individual entries and anthologies will NOT be retained or returned.

• • Awards will be held for pickup at the Walt Whitman Birthplace by June 15, 2025.  They will not be mailed. 

Submission Instructions

Submissions are now closed!

Or EMAIL materials to educator@waltwhitman.org by deadline. NO hard copy mailed submissions will be accepted.

All submissions become the property of WWBA.

Submissions due Saturday, March 15, 2025.
Good luck to all students!