When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd Whitman's encounter with the lilacs in bloom in his mother's yard caused the flowers to become "viscerally bound to the memory of Lincoln's death". According to Gregory Eiselein: In the weeks before Lincoln's assassination, Whitman observed the planet Venus shining brightly in the evening sky. He later wrote of the observation, "Nor earth nor sky ever knew spectacles of superber beauty than some of the nights lately here. The western star, Venus, in the earlier hours of evening, has never been so large, so clear; it seems as if it told something, as if it held rapport indulgent with humanity,
Centered in the Universe must apply imagination to interpret their observations. Towards the end of the show, the audience experiences a simulated flight through clusters of galaxies, into the Milky Way Galaxy, our solar system, skimming the surface of Mars, where the probable and tragic loss of oceans beckon the audience to wonder about the future of our planet, and then finally returns to Earth, landing on the front lawn of Griffith Observatory. The presenter once again appears with the glowing "star" and delivers an epilogue, summarizing that of all the things we have learned about the Universe, one of the most amazing discoveries