1
O CAPTAIN! my Captain! our fearful trip is done;
The ship has weather’d every rack, the prize we sought is won;
The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,
While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring:
But O heart! heart! heart!
O the bleeding drops of red,
Where on the deck my Captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead.
2
O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells;
Rise up-for you the flag is flung-for you the bugle trills;
For you bouquets and ribbon’d wreaths-for you the shores a-crowding;
For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning;
Here Captain! dear father!
This arm beneath your head;
It is some dream that on the deck,
You’ve fallen cold and dead.
3
My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still;
My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor will;
The ship is anchor’d safe and sound, its voyage closed and done;
From fearful trip, the victor ship, comes in with object won;
Exult, O shores, and ring, O bells!
But I, with mournful tread,
Walk the deck my Captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead.
I disagree, this is a good poem
this poem is not as good as I expected. I had heard that it was better
o captain my captain is a great poem written by Walt Whitman. Tthis poem is an elegy on the death of Abraham Lincoin . the poet did not express his feelings directly he uses symbols and metaphors, the captain is Abraham Lincoin, the president ;USA is the ship; the voyage, fearful journey is the civil war-the war against slavery.
in this poem the poet expresses his grave and sadness, because Abraham was his beloved leader. This man , Abraham, was very bold and fearless person, he took the case of Negro slave seriously . he said Negro should be treated as human beings , he was against the idea of Negro slave. None is inferior to another , all human are equal.
Abraham was very proud of himself so he asked others to be proud of themselves.
When the sip came back from it’s trip , people wanted to honor their leader, but they were disappointed to know their leader was no more .Walt Whitman was in the ship, he was very sorry to hear the news of the death of Abraham. His death was not natural one , he was assassinated .
The poet says the fearful journey is over. it is successful ,because slavery is over. Negro get the right of equality.
When the poet says 😮 captain , my captain rise up and hear the bells
I felt as if I was there trying to make the captain to wake up. People are waiting to welcome him . people are gathered to honor him . but Abraham did not move he was died .
Walt Whitman is one of the best, if not the best, writer of all time. There seems to never be a flaw to his poems. I love the symbolism in this poem that relates to Abraham Lincoln’s death. When Whitman repeats heart! heart! heart!, I can almost hear gunshots. I can hear the ringing and the cheering of the crowds after the unification of the states. I love how Whitman first refers to Lincoln as just a captain and then adds in my captain and also describes him as a father. It seems to show his personal liking for the president. The father also seems to show some biblical allusion to me, as if Lincoln was a savior to America. It is great when Whitman says “The ship is anchor’d safe and sound” because it shows like a real captain, Lincoln went to all measures to finish the “voyage” of the “ship” (US) and the “fearful trip” (civil war) even if that resulted in his death. Even after he describes Lincoln’s death, he still says crowds are cheering, and should still be cheering for the influential president. I love how Whitman describes seeing the dead man as a “dream”, almost like he doesn’t believe it is happening and just wants to wake up. Such a glorious dream became a nightmare. Priceless. When I was done reading the poem, I noticed that the stanzas were all shaped like the front of a ship, and started with the word ‘captain’ as though the captain is on the deck. Did anyone else notice this?
i think that this poem is about abraham lincoln and how the civil war just ended and everyone( well not every one…) is rejoicing and soon after abraham licoln is killed
he is a great poet indeed n i believe this is his one of the best poem. very nicely written describing all emotions various similis metaphors and personifications leads to the creation of a masterpiece
hello,
its a really stirring poem …..i am actually a student n it is in my course…i luv to study abt it!!!!i need its summary…
Hello,i am one of the graduates in China. I am looking for reference about this poem in my thesis .i like Whitman’s poem .And i need you hand .Thank you
i love this poem….when you first read this you think that he is talkin about a boat and its captain….but its really about abrahim lincoln
This poem is AMAZING! just the fact that he puts the hurt that he is clearly feeling into it is powerful. I love it.
i really enjoyed this poem, because i read a book called becoming mary mehan, its about an irish girl and how the irish aren’t able to get a good job, and are almost like slaves, but not as bad. in this book walt whitman tried to get mary to visit dying soldiers in the hospital and goes in there a lot himself, near the end mary does go in and sees a man, this man is missing a leg, and mary pretends she is his sister and tries to make the end of his life as happy as possible, she tells him that she already told his mom that he had been brave, then she sees him die. she only goes in because her brother died in the war. i am doing a report in class, i am analysing what walt was trying to say in his poems, and what it means to me, im going to try to finish it tonight, thank you for reading what i have to say
Phoebe Zajac 7th grade
I thought the poem was interesting, and i remember seeing it on a tv show once, but anyway it is a cool poem.
This Poem is really good because it talks about Abraham Lincolns Death during the Civil War. I think that it is referring Abraham Lincoln as the Captain and we are the ship. Without a captain we are a ship without order.
this poem is written nicely an in this poem i can see a hidden truth of life that people want freedom from slavery
This poem never ceases to move me. Whitman was a genius and a good human being who gave 3 years of his life working in the hospitals tending to wounded in the Civil War. America’s greatest poet
I came to know this great poem, as most of the israeli people, at the memorial gathering after the assasination of Itzhak Rabin, our Prime-Minister, on November 4 1995.
In any language you may choose, Whitman’s poem is an everlasting memorial stand to the CAPTAINS, the leaders of truth, who lost their life to hatered and ignorance.
Alas the country who share the loss for her captain,
Hail the counry blessed with poets as Whitman.
I am French. This poem was given to me by an American soldier at the Liberation !I know it by heart …Since that time it moves me as much as before . I love America !
One of the most famous Israeli song and music writers Naomi Shemer translated the poem to Hebrew after Itzhak Rabin’s assassination in 1995. She also composed it, and you can here a sample at:
http://www.mooma.com/onealbum.asp?AlbumID=6638 (it’s in Hebrew, scroll down to the last song and click on the little black arrows). Unfortunately, the sample ends before “But O heart! heart! heart!” but I think it’s worth listening to, though it might change the way you’ll read the poem in the future.
It talks about Abraham Lincolns Assasssination during the end of the Civil War. I think it was a good peom but hard to understand
for me i heard it on tv then i researched it on the web and i found that it is not only inspiring but also got me to think and research about ebraham linkin