In this agony, the poet writes the verses. After his death, the nation is fatherless. When he lived, he guided the multitude with his fatherly guidance. However, they have to consider, at the same time, that their metaphorical “captain” of the ship is no more.
Being a moment of victory, everyone is happy. According to the poet, the ship is sailing nearer to the shore, meaning the war is about to end. Here, the “ship” is a symbol of the civil war fought for liberating the slaves. The title of the poem, ‘O Captain! My Captain!’ refers to Abraham Lincoln as a captain of the ship. The conclusion of the Civil War has brought with it national mourning and a period of reflection. The end of the Civil War was supposedly a moment of rejoicing for the American populace, instead, it became an event of mourning. Slowly and gradually, he realizes that the change is permanent and life must go, regardless. At the start of the poem, the speaker attempts to come to reality as he observes his dead captain on the deck. The speaker’s coming to terms with the death of his fallen comrade is the focal point of the poem at hand. ‘O Captain! My Captain!’ by Walt Whitman is a heart-touching elegy on the death of the American President Abraham Lincoln. The ship is anchor’d safe and sound, its voyage closed and done,įrom fearful trip the victor ship comes in with object won My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor will, My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still, Rise up-for you the flag is flung-for you the bugle trills,įor you bouquets and ribbon’d wreaths-for you the shores a-crowding,įor you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting, The ship has weather’d every rack, the prize we sought is won, O Captain! my Captain! our fearful trip is done,
As a result, he has recorded the events, moods, and spirit of the time magnificently. Speaking in the language of ordinary men, Walt Whitman aspired to become the voice of the nation, speaking on the behest of the American population at the time. On the other hand, Walt Whitman uses similar poetic devices like that of William Wordsworth and Dante Alighieri. He was the new-age poet, poised with breaking away from the shackles of established poetic practices and forming new ones just as America is created for a different purpose, tearing away from the yoke of colonialism and steering clear of undermining the proletariat class. Walt Whitman’s masterpiece, ‘O Captain! My Captain!’ moves with a sheer melancholic tone throughout its entirety.
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