O Captain! My Captain!-Walt Whitman

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O Captain! My Captain!-Walt Whitman

• Dr. Kumar Gautam Anand

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• It is an elegy written to honor the death of
  Abraham Lincoln.
• The poem is a symbolic representation of heart
  felt agony over the unfortunate demise of
  president Abraham Lincoln after his assignation.
  
• Biographical Details
• Walt Whitman was born on the 31st of may, 1819,
  in Long Island, New York. His life's work, Leaves
  of Grass, made him one of the first American
  poets to be famous world wide.
• Whitman spent most of his young life in Brooklyn,
  where he worked as a printer and newspaper
  journalist through the 1850s.
• The first edition of Leaves of Grass was
  privately printed in 1855 and consisted of 12
  untitled poems, "Song of Myself was one of them.
  The publication gave him popularity in literary
  circles in Europe and, later, the United States.
• Whitman published a total of eight editions
  during his lifetime. During the Civil War Whitman
  moved to Washington, D.C., where he served as a
  civil servant and volunteer nurse.

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• He published the poetry collections Drum Taps and
  Sequel to Drum Taps in 1865, the latter
  containing his famous elegies for Abraham
  Lincoln, "Where Lilacs Last in the Dooryard
  Bloom'd" and "O Captain! My Captain!"

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• In 1873 he was paralyzed after a stroke and
  moved to Camden, New Jersey. By the time of his
  death he was an international literary celebrity,
  and he is considered one of the most influential
  poets in American literature.

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• The originality of the American Walt Whitmans
  poems stemmed from the fact that he used free
  verse, and, a sense of realism and boldness that
  was considered obscene in the 19th century.
  Whitman, often called the father of free verse.

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• O Captain! My Captain is a metaphoric poem
  written by Walt Whitman that speaks very highly
  of America and president, Abraham Lincoln. This
  elegy is a part of 4 poems that Walt Whitman
  wrote in the memory of his hero.
• In this poem, the captain is meant to represent
  Abraham Lincoln. The poem states that the captain
  has lead his ship through harsh conditions and
  still ended up arriving at the treasure or prize.
  This was meant to symbolize Abraham Lincoln
  leading the US during the tough times of the US
  civil war, abolishing slavery and keeping the
  union together after the civil war. These
  achievements are what earned the high respect
  from Walt Whitman.

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• O CAPTAIN! my Captain! our fearful trip is
  doneThe ship has weather'd every rack, the
  prize we sought is wonThe port is near, the
  bells I hear, the people all exulting,While
  follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and
  daringBut O heart! heart! heart!O the bleeding
  drops of red,Where on the deck my Captain
  lies,Fallen cold and dead.

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• Beginning the stanza with O Captain, my Captain
  the speaker seems to be both addressing his
  Captain and talking to himself about his Captain.
  The prize we sought is won is the victory that
  the union achieved in the civil war. The port is
  near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting
  is a reference to the fact that because the war
  is won, the people are happy and the end is
  reached, "our fearful trip is done" refers to
  the Civil War being over.

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• The next four lines deliver the message of the
  falling dead after the victory. The repetition of
  But O Heart! Heart! Heart!portrays the
  speakers horror at the fact that his Captain is
  dead, more so because of the repetition three
  times. Bleeding drops of red symbolize both the
  Captains wounds, and also the speakers wounded
  heart. The deck of the deck of the ship is
  America. The reputation of the lines shows the
  rhythm of the poem and portray emotional.

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• O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the
  bellsRise up--for you the flag is flung--for
  you the bugle trills10For you bouquets and
  ribbon'd wreaths--for you the shores
  a-crowdingFor you they call, the swaying mass,
  their eager faces turningHere Captain! dear
  father!This arm beneath your headIt is some
  dream that on the deck,You've fallen cold and
  dead.

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• In the second stanza, the speaker blends two
  distinct scenes
• one where the crowds gather to celebrate the
  military victory of the captain
• and the other the crowds mourning him as a
  fallen hero.
• The bells can be interpreted as both- the bells
  of victory and the bells or a church in a
  funeral, as well as the bugle can be interpreted
  as military calls for victory or as taps, which
  is played at soldiers funerals. The people are
  both rejoicing in the victory and also mourning
  for Captain assassination.

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• In the second half of this segment, the speaker
  is almost going through denial about his
  Captains death, calling it a dream. Also, the
  line fallen cold and dead is now directed at the
  Captain, which emphasizes the denial of the
  speaker of his Captains death by speaking to him
  as if he were alive.

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• The poem also shows other people paying respects
  to Lincoln. An example would be for you the flag
  is flung-for you the bugle trills. This must have
  meant there were many others that appreciated
  Lincoln as much a Whitman did.O Captain My
  Captain has a simple rhyme scheme. The first half
  of the first and third stanza consists of a
  couplet scheme, AABB. The first half of the
  second paragraph somewhat has a rhyme in
  couplets bells, trills, crowding, turning. The
  second part of each stanza follows an ABCB rhyme
  scheme.

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• My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale
  and stillMy father does not feel my arm, he has
  no pulse nor willThe ship is anchor'd safe and
  sound, its voyage closed and doneFrom fearful
  trip, the victor ship, comes in with object
  wonExult, O shores, and ring, O bells!But I,
  with mournful tread,Walk the deck my Captain
  lies,Fallen cold and dead.

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• Walt Whitman is so fond of Lincoln that he even
  calls him a father. It is such a high praise
  because almost no one would call a person they
  never met a father, and mean it. At the end of
  each stanza, Whitman reminds the reader that the
  captain, Abraham Lincoln, had not finished his
  journey and had perished. It symbolizes him
  getting assassinated and the bleeding drops of
  red are meant to portray the blood from when
  Lincoln was shot.

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• In the last stanza, the speaker comes to reality
  with his Captains death. All of the imagery in
  the stanza portrays death. Lips being pale and
  still, not feeling his arm, having no pulse, and
  having no will all point directly toward death.
  In this excerpt, In the last lines of the poem,
  the speaker talks about how the rest of the
  nation should rejoice in the military victory,
  but how he will continue to mourn the Captain. In
  the last two lines of the poem, the speaker
  acknowledges that his Captain is indeed dead, and
  will mourn him.

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• Overall I would say this poem is a very nice
  poem written by Whitman. It creates a happy and
  sad mood together because Whitman writes
  positives of what happened (such as Lincoln
  finding the prize or the people cheering for him)
  in the first half of each stanza but quickly
  reminds the reader that in fact Abraham Lincoln
  had been assassinated