o captain my captain essay introduction

O Captain! My Captain!

By Walt Whitman

Saddened by the results of the American civil war, Walt Whitman wrote the elegy, ‘O Captain! My Captain!’ in memory of deceased American President Abraham Lincoln in 1865. The civil war occurred during his lifetime with Whitman a staunch supporter of unionists.

Walt Whitman

Nationality: American

His deeply emotional, spiritual, and nature-based poems appeal to poetry lovers around the world.

Key Poem Information

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Central Message: Lincoln's leadership was critical.

Themes: Celebration , Death , Journey

Speaker: A sailor

Emotions Evoked: Grief , Pain , Sadness

Poetic Form: Free Verse

Time Period: 19th Century

This is a moving elegy for Abraham Lincoln, using vivid imagery and a mournful tone to convey the sense of loss felt by the nation.

Walt Whitman’s masterpiece, ‘O Captain! My Captain!’ moves with a sheer melancholic tone throughout its entirety. He was the new-age poet, poised with breaking away from the shackles of established poetic practices and forming new ones just as America was created for a different purpose, tearing away from the yoke of colonialism and steering clear of undermining the proletariat class.

On the other hand, Walt Whitman ( Bio | Poems ) uses poetic devices similar to that of William Wordsworth ( Bio | Poems ) and Dante Alighieri ( Bio ) . Speaking in the language of ordinary men, Walt Whitman aspired to become the voice of the nation, speaking at the behest of the American population at the time. As a result, he has recorded the events, moods , and spirits of the time magnificently.

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Explore O Captain! My Captain!

• 2 Poem Title’s Meaning
• 3 Structure
• 4 Literary Devices
• 6 Analysis, Stanza by Stanza
• 7 Historical Context
• 8 Similar Poetry

‘O Captain! My Captain!’ by Walt Whitman ( Bio | Poems ) is a heart-touching elegy on the death of the American President Abraham Lincoln ( Poems ) .

The speaker ’s coming to terms with the death of his fallen comrade is the focal point of the poem at hand. At the start of the poem, the speaker attempts to come to reality as he observes his dead captain on the deck. Slowly and gradually, he realizes that the change is permanent and life must go, regardless. The end of the Civil War was supposedly a moment of rejoicing for the American populace; instead, it became an event of mourning. The conclusion of the Civil War has brought with it national mourning and a period of reflection.

Poem Title’s Meaning

The title of the poem, ‘O Captain! My Captain!’ refers to Abraham Lincoln ( Poems ) as a captain of the ship. Here, the “ship” is a symbol of the civil war fought to liberate the slaves. According to the poet, the ship is sailing nearer to the shore, meaning the war is about to end. They have achieved their coveted goal. Being a moment of victory, everyone is happy. However, they have to consider, at the same time, that their metaphorical “captain” of the ship is no more. When he lived, he guided the multitude with his fatherly guidance. After his death, the nation is fatherless. In this agony, the poet writes the verses . However, the mood of the poem is not gloomy. Even if they have lost Lincoln, the dream Lincoln has seen is not lost.

The poem, ‘O Captain! My Captain!’ consists of 3 stanzas in totality, having 2 quatrains in each. A quatrain is a stanza consisting of four lines. Besides, this poem is an elegy. An elegy is known as a mourning poem. Apart from that, Whitman uses the free verse form while writing this poem. For this reason, the lines of the poem do not rhyme at all. Yet there are some instances where one can find the use of rhyming . As an example, in the second part of the first stanza, the words “red” and “dead” rhyme together. Thereafter, the poet mostly uses the iambic meter in this poem. For instance, the first line is in iambic hexameter . The following two lines are in iambic heptameter . At the same time, the second quatrain does not follow a specific metrical scheme.

Literary Devices

Most of Walt Whitman’s poems use repetition and rhythm to render a spellbinding poetic beauty. He uses anaphora constantly, as several verses begin with the same word/ phrase. For instance, ‘When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomers’ uses ‘when’ 4 times to render a lyrical sound. Anaphora is generally used for joyous chants and rendering celebratory feelings in a poem’s entirety. ‘O Captain! My Captain!’ makes use of ‘father’ and ‘heart’ to mourn the death of assassinated Abraham Lincoln ( Poems ) . Moreover, the fallen ship’s captain is a reference to Abraham Lincoln ( Poems ) , whereas the ship is also an allusion to the United States of America during its early years of independence.

Whitman emphasizes the importance of self in the majority of his poems, ranging from ‘I Hear America Singing’ to others; he prizes the American populace to believe in themselves. More so, he even uses symbolical allusions to drive home a point. He may use inanimate objects for that end. Apart from that, Whitman uses the themes of victory, lamentation, grief, sadness, and loss in his poem, ‘O Captain! My Captain!’ . Though this poem concerns the theme of victory, it contains a sad note on the death of Lincoln. The poet creates contrast by transposing the images of the joyous crowd beside the lifeless body of the captain. This concoction of emotions resembles the nature of life. Along with that, the themes of grief and lamentation are important aspects of this piece.

Analysis, Stanza by Stanza

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.

In the first stanza of ‘O Captain! My Captain!’ the speaker shouts with sheer excitement to the ship’s captain about making it home safe and sound. The ship, after enduring tough storms and impenetrable winds, made it back on the dock. Jaded and exhausted after a tiresome journey, the mission has been a roaring success. Although the ship is yet to arrive safely in the harbor, ‘land ahoy,’ ‘land ahoy’ as the ship is close by and people are seemingly exulted by its sight.

The church bells are ringing, and people act animatedly as the ship nigh the shore. The excitement escalates as the boat nears the harbor. The keel has been thrown in to steady the moving ship. The keel is a reference to a ‘ship’ as well, same as ‘all hands on deck’ means all people should be ready.

As the ship draws near the harbor, the poem takes on a dark turn, foreboding something unfavorable to be revealed. ‘Grim and daring’ are the terms referring to the twisting mood. The would-be ghost ship carries some unwanted news for the awaiting crowd.

Thereafter, he speaks from the heart. The heart has shattered and torn over the death of the ship’s captain. The breakdown of emotions is surging from the sailor as the fallen comrade lies beside him, in all his glory but dead. Drops of blood are flowing on the ship’s deck, the blood of Abraham Lincoln.

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.

The sailor implores the now-dead captain to rise from the dead. The act of talking to the dead is known as an apostrophe . The reason is that the people ashore await their prized captain to lead the way and stamp his mark on history. The crowd is jubilant as they celebrate using some devices such as raising the flag in victory, holding flowers, and cheering for the captain. The crowd is getting restless as anticipation rises to catch a glimpse of their ship’s captain. Alas! He’s no longer with them.

In actuality, the ship’s captain is not his biological father, but truly, his respect and reverence for him stand greater than his actual father. The sailor looks at the fallen comrade and wishes this nightmare was just a dream. Alas! As the reality sets in, the sailor realizes the damage is irreparable.

Stanza Three

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.

In the last stanza of ‘O Captain! My Captain!’ , the sailor looks sadly at the dead captain in pure agony. He observes his lips to have paled a la that of a corpse. The captain fails to respond to his cries of helplessness. The liveliness from the captain’s face has drained now. His pulse has stopped, and he’s unlikely to move from now on. The ship has landed safely in the harbor with its anchor thrown in. The voyage is now complete. The sailor reminisces about the trip to be extremely arduous, yet they crossed the line with a trade-off.

The concluding lines of the poem explicate the fact that the sailor has some bad news to share with the awaiting crowd. He appeals directly to the loud jeers, cheers, and ringing bells for the much-awaited captain. Again, the poet uses synecdoche to represent the entire American audience at large as the poem relates to the death of Abraham Lincoln. The sailor feels uncomfortable as he needs to relay the bad news to the populace at large, as the victory celebrations come to a standstill.

Historical Context

‘O Captain! My Captain!’ was authored by famous American poet Walt Whitman ( Bio | Poems ) . It alluded to President Abraham Lincoln’s death in 1865. The poem was a part of his controversially famous collection of poems, “Leaves of Grass.” The poetic collection was continuously revised to add new poetic pieces from Walt Whitman ( Bio | Poems ) as a result. ‘O Captain! My Captain!’ at the time of its publication became an intensely popular poem for classics, read in schools over the years to come. For Whitman, the praise was redundant by all means. Commenting on Whitman’s poetry , he said that the audience of his time appreciated poetry with form, rhyme, and meter, still unfamiliar with the free-verse concept. The poem moves its reader with utter undertones of remorse and sadness over the conclusion of the Civil War and its dramatic ramifications later, rendering a powerful period poem in the process.

Similar Poetry

The following poems are similar to the themes and subject matter of Whitman’s lyric , ‘O Captain! My Captain!’ .

• Abraham Lincoln Walks at Midnight by Vachel Lindsay ( Poems ) – This poem portrays the spirit of Lincoln wandering in the streets, having awakened from his eternal sleep due to the devastation of World War I.
• from The People, Yes by Carl Sandburg ( Bio | Poems ) – This poem is about Abraham Lincoln ( Poems ) , his leadership, and how he stood firm with his countrymen during the Civil War.
• When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d by Walt Whitman ( Bio | Poems ) – This poem is another elegy written upon the death of Lincoln. It highlights the inevitability of death.
• Hush’d Be the Camps To-Day by Walt Whitman ( Bio | Poems ) – Whitman wrote this poem in memory of Lincoln. Here, he presents the reasons for writing this poem.
• The Negro Speaks of Rivers by Langston Hughes ( Bio | Poems ) – It’s one of the best-known poems of Langston Hughes. This poem concerns a man who has seen the great ages of the world and listened to Mississippi while Lincoln was sibling down it.

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no way you actually did a perfect job do more

There is an abundance of l sounds (liquids) in the poem which conveys the feeling that the ship is moving over the sea.There is also abundance of sibilants (s and sh sounds) in the poem which echoes the swaying sound of the sea.

Great observation. Thank you for adding this.

is very good

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Asad, Omer. "O Captain! My Captain! by Walt Whitman". Poem Analysis , https://poemanalysis.com/walt-whitman/o-captain-my-captain/ . Accessed 11 August 2024.

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O Captain! My Captain! Summary & Analysis by Walt Whitman

• Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis
• Poetic Devices
• Vocabulary & References
• Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme
• Line-by-Line Explanations

“O Captain! My Captain!” is an elegy written by Walt Whitman in 1865 to commemorate the death of President Abraham Lincoln. It was first published in Sequel to Drum-Taps (1865), a collection of Whitman’s poems inspired by the events of the American Civil War. The poem is perhaps Whitman’s most famous—which is ironic, since it is far more conventional in meter, form, and subject than much of Whitman’s other work. Although some critics have suggested that Whitman regretted ever writing “O Captain! My Captain!” it undeniably captured the mood of a nation in mourning and has remained one of Whitman’s best-loved and most-quoted poems.

• Read the full text of “O Captain! My Captain!”

The Full Text of “O Captain! My Captain!”

1 O Captain! my Captain! our fearful trip is done,

2 The ship has weather’d every rack, the prize we sought is won,

3 The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,

4 While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring;

5                          But O heart! heart! heart!

6                             O the bleeding drops of red,

7                                Where on the deck my Captain lies,

8                                   Fallen cold and dead.

9 O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells;

10 Rise up—for you the flag is flung—for you the bugle trills,

11 For you bouquets and ribbon’d wreaths—for you the shores a-crowding,

12 For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning;

13                          Here Captain! dear father!

14                             This arm beneath your head!

15                                It is some dream that on the deck,

16                                  You’ve fallen cold and dead.

17 My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still,

18 My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor will,

19 The ship is anchor’d safe and sound, its voyage closed and done,

20 From fearful trip the victor ship comes in with object won;

21                          Exult O shores, and ring O bells!

22                             But I with mournful tread,

23                                Walk the deck my Captain lies,

24                                   Fallen cold and dead.

“O Captain! My Captain!” Summary

“o captain my captain” themes.

Victory and Loss

• See where this theme is active in the poem.

Grief and Isolation

The Individual vs. the Nation

Line-by-line explanation & analysis of “o captain my captain”.

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;

O the bleeding drops of red,

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;

Lines 13-18

Here Captain! dear father!                             This arm beneath your head!                                It is some dream that on the deck,                                  You’ve fallen cold and dead. My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still, My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor will,

Lines 19-24

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.

“O Captain! My Captain!” Symbols

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“O Captain! My Captain!” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

Extended metaphor.

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Alliteration

End-stopped line, personification, juxtaposition, “o captain my captain” vocabulary.

Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “O Captain! My Captain!”

Rhyme scheme, “o captain my captain” speaker, “o captain my captain” setting, literary and historical context of “o captain my captain”, more “o captain my captain” resources, external resources.

Whitman Out Loud — For audio recordings of the poem, check out the free downloadable selection from LibriVox.

Poetry and the Mediation of Value: Whitman on Lincoln — This is the text of a lecture by Professor Helen Vendler, a famous authority on American and British poetry. Although it is an academic lecture, it is written in an accessible style.

Two Worlds of Mourning: Walt Whitman and Abraham Lincoln’s Death — This resource from the National Portrait Gallery dives in to the relationship between Walt Whitman and the subject of his elegy, President Abraham Lincoln.

Clip from Dead Poets Society — "O Captain! My Captain!" remains a staple of the American school curriculum and appears frequently in popular culture. Watch a famous scene from the film Dead Poets Society in which students recite the beginning of the poem for their teacher, played by Robin Williams.

Encyclopedia.com Entry on "O Captain! My Captain!" — An extensive introduction to the poem and its context. The "Critical Overview" section is particularly comprehensive, including excerpts from the work of several prominent critics.

LitCharts on Other Poems by Walt Whitman

A March in the Ranks Hard-Prest, and the Road Unknown

A Noiseless Patient Spider

Beat! Beat! Drums!

Crossing Brooklyn Ferry

I Hear America Singing

I Sing the Body Electric

O Me! O Life!

One's-Self I Sing

The Voice of the Rain

When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer

When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d

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O Captain! My Captain! Introduction

In a nutshell.

Walt Whitman was a walking, talking poetic encyclopedia. Seriously. Take his first collection of poems, Leaves of Grass , published in 1855. In it, Whitman wrote about so many different things: love, sex, politics, nature (including grass), travel. He then continually revised, edited, and added to this collection until the early 1890s.

Whitman also wrote a lot about his country, the good ol’ U.S. of A. Many poems of the time celebrated the United States with all its struggles as a young and forming nation, and nothing represented those struggles better than the poems Whitman wrote about the Civil War . Although Whitman never fought in the war, he was closely involved as a nurse for the wounded. He also worked as a journalist for newspapers.

Most of Whitman’s time during the war was spent in Washington, D.C., where Whitman apparently would see the young President Abraham Lincoln cruising around town. Well, not cruising exactly. Lincoln took a horse or carriage ride every day, and the poet was often on the side of the road—you know, thinking poetic thoughts and such. As Lincoln passed, the two would bow to each other, though Lincoln may never have known who the gray-bearded man on the side of the road was. Whitman claimed that he could even see Lincoln’s office, lit by candlelight, as Lincoln worked late into the night, burning the midnight…uh, wax. (For more on their relationship, check this out.)

Lincoln remained in office after the Civil War ended. The Union was preserved, and the country began the era of Reconstruction (what was that about? Check out Shmoop’s run-down on Reconstruction and come on back. We’ll wait…). It appeared that President Lincoln had guided the nation back into safer harbors, and the American people respected him greatly for the clear-headed leadership that he provided.

Our man Walt was no exception. Unfortunately, though, Lincoln was assassinated on April 14, 1865, just five days after the Confederate surrender. Whitman, crushed, held vigil as his hero passed away. To mourn the loss of his president, Whitman wrote “O Captain! My Captain!” and it became what folks in the music biz would call a smash hit single. Whitman became a famous American poet in his own time. The poem itself went through many versions up until the 1891-1892 edition (the last edition) of Leaves of Grass .

Why Should I Care?

If you grew up in the United States, or any other number of democratic republics in this world, you are probably quite used to the idea that you and all other citizens get to vote for people to represent them. It just sounds like the way to go, right? Well, while this seems like quite the fair process, and one that makes sense, that doesn’t mean it comes without difficulties.

This is especially true for the folks who get elected by most…but not all of the people who vote. (And isn’t that always the case? In any election, anywhere from zero to half of the population will have voted against the winner. Still, he or she is expected to represent their opponents’ best interests and wishes as well. Weird and wacky stuff.)

When one such elected official, Abraham Lincoln , became president, the nation was on the verge of civil war. Talk about facing opposition from the group that didn’t vote for you! A lot of citizens, in the South particularly, really didn’t think Lincoln best represented them, and thought they’d be better served by pulling away and doing their own thing.

Hence, the Civil War. The United States had to learn the hard way that a nation is a fragile and changing thing. Lincoln had the responsibility of guiding the country safely through many known and unknown dangers. He had to figure out how to keep the nation intact and feeling well-supported and fairly represented, throughout—no easy task.

When you read “O Captain! My Captain!,” think about how much faith you and other people in your country put into your leaders. Walt Whitman had a lot of faith in Abraham Lincoln. (His essay “The Eighteenth Presidency” called for an ideal leader like Lincoln to rise up from the common people so as to guide the nation to maturity.) During the war, Whitman watched Lincoln go to work almost every day. And when the war was over, Whitman hoped that the country could begin to heal.

The assassination of Lincoln struck him as a deeply personal loss, probably in a way that might seem strange to us today. After all, our leaders seem like so many talking heads on our TV screens, right? But should it be that way? Don’t we have a vested, and personal, interest in the success of our leaders, and the path that our country takes? Aren’t we, like Whitman writes, all in the same boat together? If you agree, then this poem will only ramp up your patriotic spirit. If you disagree, read it anyway. We have a feeling that Whitman’s powerful language just might change your mind.

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W hy's T his F unny?

O Captain! My Captain!

“o captain my captain”.

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. 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. 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.  

Meanings of O Captain! My Captain! by Walt Whitman

Meanings of stanza -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.

Meanings of Stanza -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.

The poet calls the captain to hear the bells and get up to see that they have achieved their aim and that they are on the verge of hoisting their flag. The captain is now required to beat the drums, blow the pipe, receive the bouquets, and lay the wreaths on the graves of the dead ones. He is to respond to the public appreciation, pacify the public and respond to their sloganeering. However, the poet sees that the captain himself is dead. He informs his father that he sees the captain cold and dead lying on the deck of the ship as if in some dream. The valiant death of the captain shows the poet appreciating the role of the captain as well as mourning his death. It is the death of Abraham Lincoln. This stanza contributes to the main idea of the poem, which is the celebration after the victory in the Civil War and the appreciation of Abraham Lincoln for his role in it.

Meanings of Stanza -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.

Summary of “O Captain! My Captain!”

Analysis of the literary devices in o captain my captain.

literary devices serve as a tool to project hidden meanings in the text. With the help of literary devices , the authors equip their simple texts with powerful impacts on their readers. Whitman, too, has enriched this poem, using following literary devices.

Analysis of Poetic Devices in O Captain My Captain

Quotations for usage from “o captain my captain”.

“O Captain! My Captain! Our fearful trip is done, The ship has weather’d every rack, the prize we sought is won.”

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Walt Whitman: Poems

By walt whitman, walt whitman: poems summary and analysis of "o captain my captain".

The poem is an elegy to the speaker's recently deceased Captain , at once celebrating the safe and successful return of their ship and mourning the loss of its great leader. In the first stanza, the speaker expresses his relief that the ship has reached its home port at last and describes hearing people cheering. Despite the celebrations on land and the successful voyage, the speaker reveals that his Captain's dead body is lying on the deck. In the second stanza, the speaker implores the Captain to "rise up and hear the bells," wishing the dead man could witness the elation. Everyone adored the captain, and the speaker admits that his death feels like a horrible dream. In the final stanza, the speaker juxtaposes his feelings of mourning and pride.

Whitman wrote this poem shortly after President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. It is an extended metaphor intended to memorialize Lincoln's life and work. The Captain represents the assassinated president; the ship represents the war-weathered nation following the Civil War; the "prize won" represents the salvaged union. The speaker, torn between relief and despair, captures America's confusion at the end of the Civil War. It was a time of many conflicting sentiments, and Whitman immortalizes this sense of uncertainty in "O Captain! My Captain!"

Whitman's poetry places a lot of emphasis on the individual. This particular poem explores a variation on that theme: the self vs. the other. The speaker struggles with balancing his personal feelings of loss with the celebratory mood resulting from the successful voyage. While the Civil War claimed many lives, it led to the reunification of the Union, so many Americans felt similarly divided. In Whitman's poem, the speaker believes that he should be part of the "other" group, celebrating the return to safety. However, his inner thoughts set him apart from the crowd as he tries to reconcile his emotional reaction to the Captain's death.

"O Captain! My Captain!" is the only Walt Whitman poem that has a regular meter and rhyme scheme. Often hailed as "the father of free verse," Whitman tended to write his poems without following any kind of ordered poetic form. However, "O Captain! My Captain!" is organized into three eight-line stanzas, each with an AABBCDED rhyme scheme. Each stanza closes with the words "fallen cold and dead," and the first four lines of each stanza are longer than the last four lines. Because this poem is an elegy to the dead, the more traditional format adds to its solemnity. Additionally, the regular meter is reminiscent of a soldier marching across the battlefield, which is fitting for a poem that commemorates the end of the Civil War.

Walt Whitman: Poems Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for Walt Whitman: Poems is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

The Wound Dresser

D. empathetic

Why do you think Walt Whitman chose a spider to symbolize his soul?

Whitman chose the spider because like the spider, his soul is always trying to make connections to the world.

“Pioneers! O Pioneers!” why the repetition in the last lines?

Each stanza ends with the title line, "Pioneers! O Pioneers!" The repetition of this line accentuates the speaker's respect for the pioneers, as well as mimicking a rallying cry that brings them together and inspires them for the difficult journey...

Study Guide for Walt Whitman: Poems

Walt Whitman: Poems study guide contains a biography of Walt Whitman, literature essays, a complete e-text, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

• About Walt Whitman: Poems
• Walt Whitman: Poems Summary
• Walt Whitman: Poems Video
• Character List

Essays for Walt Whitman: Poems

Walt Whitman: Poems essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of the poetry of Walt Whitman.

• An Analysis and Interpretation of Allen Ginsberg's America
• The Metaphor of Light in Whitman's Civil War Poems
• The Resposibilities of Creation
• An Explication of Walt Whitman's "Give Me the Splendid Silent Sun"
• The Deconstruction of Self in Walt Whitman's Song of Myself

Lesson Plan for Walt Whitman: Poems

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Walt Whitman: Poems e-text contains the full text of select poems by Walt Whitman.

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O Captain! My Captain!

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Summary and Study Guide

“O Captain! My Captain!” (1865) is an elegy in the form of an extended metaphor . Written by Walt Whitman (1819-92), the poem mourns Abraham Lincoln’s death at the end of the American Civil War. One of four poems Whitman wrote about Lincoln’s death, “O Captain!” uses the metaphor of a ship and its captain to both celebrate the end of the Civil War and to lament the loss of America’s leader: Lincoln.

The poem is unique amongst the body of Whitman’s work. Most of Whitman’s poetry is free verse , unrhymed poetry of personal expression, but “O Captain!” is written in a much more traditional form with a set rhythm , meter , and rhyme scheme. The poem also utilizes set stanza patterns and embraces a classic metaphor. This contrasts with Whitman’s other poetry that most critics view as being original for its rejection of tradition in a time where traditional poetry was highly valued.

Ultimately, “O Captain!” contains an equal mixture of grief and celebration. As the country celebrated the conclusion of the war, it also grieved its fallen leader. The poem played a key role in adding to the mythology and martyrdom of Lincoln, who, in death, became an almost religious figure for many Americans at the time and to this day.

Poet Biography

Born in 1819 in Long Island, Walt Whitman grew up in New York. Throughout his childhood, his family faced continual financial hardship, resulting in a rather unpleasant upbringing.

Whitman finished school at the age of 11 and began working a series of jobs—mostly in publishing. During his teenage years working at various newspapers, Whitman began publishing his first poems, though he anonymously did so.

Whitman’s literary career didn’t truly begin until the mid-1850s when he published Leaves of Grass (1855), which became his most famous and influential work. At the time of publication, Leaves of Grass was a mild success mainly because of a glowing review from popular writer and orator Ralph Waldo Emerson; however, critics criticized Whitman’s poetry for its sexual themes and some took issue with because of the homoerotic nature of the poetry.

During the American Civil War, Whitman worked various government jobs and volunteered as a nurse for the Union. The experience of seeing the wounded greatly affected Whitman and he wrote about his experiences during the war in many later poems.

Whitman’s reputation improved near the end of his life—especially outside of the United States. Later in life and especially after his death, critics noted his contributions to American poetry, and in the 2000s, most poets and scholars consider him a quintessential American poet. Critics credit Whitman with advancing the free verse format. He based his cadence on the rhythm of the Christian bible, and most of his poetry rejected traditional structures, form, rhyme, and subject matter. His influence on poetry after the 19th century is indisputable.

Whitman died on March 26, 1892.

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.

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.

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,

Whitman, Walt. “ O Captain! My Captain! ” The Saturday Press , 4 Nov. 1865. Poetry Foundation .

Whitman writes “O Captain! My Captain!” in vague, enduring terminology. The poem does not establish a time, place, or subject matter; instead, Whitman writes it in classic, almost romantic metaphorical diction .

The speaker opens the poem by directly addressing “my Captain!” (Line 1), speaking in the first-person. The speaker is jubilant, using exclamation points early in the poem and the repetition of the captain’s title. The pronouncement that “our fearful trip is done / The ship has weather’d every rack, the prize we sought is won” (Lines 1-2) echoes the jubilee, suggesting whatever trial on which the speaker and captain had embarked has now successfully concluded. As the speaker’s ship nears the port, the speaker hears bells and people cheering as the ship approaches the shore. But the speaker’s glee turns to shock and sorrow when he sees his Captain bleeding, cold, and dead.

The second stanza begins with the speaker begging for the captain to rise and hear the celebration. He claims the celebration is for the captain, saying:

“...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;” (Lines 10-12).

All of these images of celebration—flags, music, flowers, cheers, and eager faces—are for the captain, who led his men to victory. The speaker calls the captain “dear father!” (Line 13) as he wonders if it is a dream to hold the dying man in his arms.

In the final stanza, the speaker says the captain does not answer his pleas, and describes the captain’s lifeless face as “pale and still” (Line 17). The poem concludes with the dual imagery of the celebration on the shore and the “mournful tread” (Line 22) of the speaker, who once again reminds the reader that the captain is dead.

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O Captain! My Captain!

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O Captain! My Captain! , three-stanza poem by Walt Whitman , first published in Sequel to Drum-Taps in 1865. From 1867 the poem was included in the 1867 and subsequent editions of Leaves of Grass .

“O Captain! My Captain!” is an elegy on the death of Pres. Abraham Lincoln . It is noted for its regular form, metre, and rhyme, though it is also known for its sentimentality verging on the maudlin . The poem, which was highly popular, portrays Lincoln as the captain of a sea-worn ship—the Union triumphant after the American Civil War . While “The ship is anchor’d safe and sound, its voyage closed and done,” the Captain lies on the deck, “Fallen cold and dead.”

Critical Analysis of Walt Whitman’s O Captain! My Captain!

Fresh Reads

The poem O Captain! My Captain! by Walt Whitman was composed in 1865 shortly after the assassination of the sixteenth President of the United States of America – Abraham Lincoln. It is classified as an elegy as it mourns the demise of the President.

Critical Analysis

In the opening stanza, the speaker is a citizen of the United States of America and an admirer of President Abraham Lincoln, who has witnessed the American Civil War. The Captain, addressed in the poem, is Abraham Lincoln, the hero of the war. He is being compared to the Captain of the ship, and the ship is the United States herself. The long journey which has been the central idea of the poem is one of the most horrible wars – the Civil War (1861-65), in the history of America. These three metaphors have been used throughout the poem. Thus, the poet has devised extended metaphors in the poem to justify its spirit. The war had changed the history of the country; it had disfigured the contour of the country. The people had seen devastating and terrible deaths in the struggle between the Northern and Southern states. You have already learnt in the overview of the Civil War about the causes of the War. Here, the port symbolically represents the destination of the ship. What do you think could be the destination of the metaphorical ship? Yes, it is peace, harmony and equality among people. As you have already learnt, slavery was one of the leading causes of the war. Lincoln proclaimed the Emancipation of the slaves in 1862, and a number of slaves were freed. In 1865, the Confederates surrendered to the Union and with this Lincoln’s dream to unite the nation was accomplished. He was re-elected as the President in 1865 but was shortly assassinated. The unexpected assassination of President Lincoln had shaken Whitman. He was in pain and shock.

The speaker in the poem was in shock when he found the Captain dead on the deck. Here you would notice the change in the mood and tone of the speaker. The sudden loss has brought grief and misery to the speaker, his heart shrieks in pain.

In the opening line, the speaker addresses the Captain as ‘O Captain! My Captain!’ which shows his intimate relation with the Captain. He uses the word ‘My’ which itself stands for the possessiveness, closeness and attachment of the speaker to the Captain. Here, you will observe the sentiments of the poet through the phrase ‘O heart! heart! heart!’ for the Captain. Whitman has created visual imagery through the words ‘O the bleeding drops of red’ – the reader can visualize the death scene on the deck, with the Captain’s dead body smeared in blood. The speaker is in the same state of mind as someone who is bereaved and experiences a sudden loss of a close relative or someone dear to him. Whitman has portrayed Lincoln as a national hero whose death has brought great loss to the nation. His personal sentiments have been attached to the poem. The reader sways away in the grief of the brutal and horrible killing of the President.

Whitman has chosen the words in a manner that create a scene of sudden befallen misfortune amid the festive mood. The shadow of death dominates the celebratory and victorious moments and turns it into wailing.

In the second stanza, the speaker displays his inability to accept the death of the Captain. Whitman considers Lincoln as a father figure, and his death is an irreparable loss for the country. Through the stanza under observation, you learn that the enthusiastic crowd is present at the port to pay respect to their brave leader. The metaphorical ship, the United States of America, has sailed through the trials and tribulations throughout the journey of the War. The Civil War ended in 1865 in favour of the Union, which ultimately preserved the integrity of the nation. After seeing the Captain in a horrific situation, the speaker tries to wake him up to make him realize his importance to the country. The crowd here represents the sentiments of the citizens of America. He also tells the Captain that the arrangements done by the people are dedicated only to him. The tolls of bells, the sound of the bugle, the wreaths and the flags are all for him. He is the celebrity of the moment whose arrival is eagerly awaited by the crowd. Here, in the phrase ‘Here Captain! Dear father!’, you can observe how the speaker pleads to the Captain, like a child or a son, to get up and see the ceremonial moment. He even puts his arm beneath his head to raise it. The phrase ‘dear father’ metaphorically indicates Lincoln’s status as a symbolic father of the nation. When he realizes that the Captain is dead, he imagines himself to be in a dream, because he is so sorrowful that his mind refuses to accept the death of the Captain.

You can also observe how Whitman has again created visual imagery through his selection of words to make the reader picture the scene of an unexpected death of a father amid ceremonial enthusiasm. This is well-portrayed by the words “it is some dream that on the deck”, which shows how the speaker has lost touch with reality.

In the last stanza, you will observe that the speaker has accepted the reality that the Captain (Lincoln) is dead. To confirm one last time, the admirer (the speaker) tries to feel the Captain’s pulse and declares that it’s silent and no more pulsating. He also notices the corpse’s lips that have now turned pale in cold blood. Ultimately, he declares that the Captain has not conscious. Here, Whitman writes about the scene of Lincoln’s death – one that has caused him great misery and pain. He has intertwined the emotional complexity of the speaker at a personal level with the rejoicing people at the port.

Now, you can easily understand the speaker’s declaration in the poem through the line ‘The ship is anchored safe and sound’. The poet, Whitman, metaphorically states the end of the Civil War in 1865. The Union of America has achieved the purpose of the struggle. The long-standing decade-old disputes have come to an end. The peace, harmony and integrity of the nation have been restored. People of all races and creeds will now gain equality and justice. All that Abraham Lincoln, the guiding figure during the war, had set out to accomplish, he has fulfilled. The four years of the war have no doubt, been destructive and horrible in the history of America, but whatever Lincoln had endeared to gain, he had achieved. The speaker in the poem declares that the prize or the reward of all these struggles in the form of preservation of harmony has been realized. The ‘ship’ or you can say, the country has sought its reward at the cost of losing a father figure of the nation.

The tone of the poem suddenly takes a turn when the speaker states his mourning while the outer world is celebrating. He is in agony, and his tormented soul expresses his grief with the phrase ‘Exult O shores, ring O bells!’ The reader empathizes with the psychological condition of the speaker, who is dealing with such a huge loss.

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“O Captain! My Captain!”: Symbolism, Imagery, and the American Dream

Introduction, “o captain my captain” and the american dream, abraham lincoln in “o captain my captain”.

The famous “O Captain! My Captain!” written by Walt Whitman is a short literary work encompassing several complex topics important to each American. It is personal and national mourning for Abraham Lincoln as well as a retrospective of the events of the Civil War and previous major historical events in the United States (Ward). The writer also indirectly describes the historical evolution of the American Dream in the poem.

Whitman’s poem provides a glimpse into the essence of the American Dream and the way people of those times perceived it. The American Dream originally was a concept similar to a new beginning. It was a dream that everyone could take a ship across the ocean to new lands, find their new home, and become successful there (Wang 33). “Our fearful trip is done” line is about that (Whitman). Then, the pursuit of individual freedom, equal socioeconomic opportunities, and the desire to abstract from the old ways of Europe developed into the idea of a democratic society (Wang 33). As a result, the political and social models of North and South, Union and Confederation, began to conflict with each other, leading to the Civil War in which the former won. “The ship has weather’d every rack, the prize we sought is won” line tells readers about it (Whitman). The ship’s arrival symbolizes the American nation achieving this stage of the American Dream since the Northern States abolished slavery and reunified the country.

It is no secret that the plot revolving around the sudden death of the captain during the triumph in the poem symbolizes Abraham Lincoln and his assassination. Ward notes that “Walt Whitman wrote two memorial poems about the death of Abraham Lincoln.” The literary work under discussion in this paper is one of them. It is noteworthy that these two persons are “often linked as kindred spirits” (“Lincoln, Abraham (1809–1865)”). The death of the captain means not only Lincoln’s assassination but also the end of one of the stages of the American Dream and the beginning of a new one that will be brought to life by the protagonist, every American.

“Lincoln, Abraham (1809–1865).” The Walt Whitman Archive. n.d. Web.

Wang, Yufei. “Exploring the Realization of the American Dream—Taking the Pursuit of Happiness as an Example.” Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research: 2020 International Conference on Language, Art and Cultural Exchange (ICLACE 2020) , Shijiazhuang, 2020 . Atlantis Press, 2020, p. 32-36. Web.

Ward, David C. “Two Worlds of Mourning: Walt Whitman and Abraham Lincoln’s Death.” National Portrait Gallery. n.d. Web.

Whitman, Walt. “O Captain! My Captain!” Poetry Foundation , 1891. Web.

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O Captain! My Captain!

Source: Leaves of Grass (David McKay, 1891)

O Captain My Captain Poem Stanza Wise Summary & Line by Line Explanation in English

Back to: Maharashtra Board Class 10th English Guide & Notes

Table of Contents

Introduction

The poem describes the victory of the Union after the end of the Civil War and also the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.

In the next lines, this enthusiasm is replaced by gloom. The captain is dead now and blood is oozing from his body. This makes the poet exclaim ‘O heart! Heart! Heart!’   The captain, who was supposed to be praised by the people for his peerless bravery is now lifeless and motionless.

The people are eagerly waiting for his arrival, but he is dead now. It should be noted that the captain is dead now and hence these ceremonies are of his funeral. The poet goes in reminiscence and tries to consider this death to be fancy but at last, he has to believe that Captain is dead. Poet calls him father because, for him, Lincoln is not just a military leader but the father of the nation and laments over his loss.

In the 3 rd stanza, we find the duality of emotions. Whitman experiences the euphoria of their victory but at the same time laments over the death of Lincoln, which is a big loss for the nation. The poet says that now the captain is dead. His lips are pale. He can neither feel the arms of the poet not his heart is beating.

Home — Essay Samples — Literature — O Captain My Captain — Analysis Of The Poem O Captain! My Captain

Analysis of The Poem O Captain! My Captain

• Categories: O Captain My Captain Poetry Walt Whitman

About this sample

Words: 439 |

Published: Aug 6, 2021

Words: 439 | Page: 1 | 3 min read

Works Cited

• Whitman, W. (1865). O Captain! My Captain! In Leaves of Grass (pp. 206-207). Thayer & Eldridge.
• Kaplan, J. (2003). Walt Whitman: A Life. Harper Perennial.
• Miller, J. E. (2003). Walt Whitman's "O Captain! My Captain!" as an Elegy for Abraham Lincoln. Journal of American Culture, 26(3), 387-394.
• Reynolds, D. S. (1995). Walt Whitman's America: A Cultural Biography. Vintage.
• Loving, J. (1999). Walt Whitman: The Song of Himself. University of California Press.
• Burroughs, J. (1900). Whitman: A Study. Houghton, Mifflin & Co.
• Kaplan, J. (2000). Lincoln in American Memory. University of Chicago Press.
• Krimmel, W. (1971). The Old Public Functionary as Natural Aristocrat: The Captain in Whitman's "O Captain! My Captain!" American Literature, 43(2), 225-238.
• Callow, P. (1992). Walt Whitman: The Poet and His Critics. Paragon House.
• Loving, J. (1996). Walt Whitman: Song of Himself. University of California Press.

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Critical appreciation of Whitman’s “O Captain! My Captain!”

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O Captain! My Captain!- Critical appreciation

Walt Whitman (1819-1892) is considered to be the greatest poet of America. He was hailed by Swami Vivekananda as a “spiritual genius”. Rabindranath Tagore said “Whitman gives me pictures!” Whitman is the poet of the body as well as of the soul.” He was born on the West Hills of Long Island, New York, to an English father, and a Dutch mother. He was the second of the nine children. His father, a carpenter and a builder of houses could not support his large family. So Walt was withdraw from school at the age of 11 and he started to work in a printing press.

He was educated at the hands of nature. He read widely and at the age of 17, he began his career as an innovative teacher. Then he turned journalism and edited many papers. At New Or-leans he saw from close quarters the viciousness of slavery. His greatest work is “Leaves of Grass” which he revised constantly, publishing the ninth edition in 1892, the year of his death. It is death. It is also called the “Death-bed edition.”

Whitman believed that poetry should be a spontaneous expression of life. His poetry was accurato-factually and emotionally. David Daiches made him popular. Now he is regarded to be the poet of America” His greatest legacy was his invention of the American free verse. His poems were written in sprawling lines with simple imageries.

Whitman was a great admirer of Abraham Lincoln, the sixteenth President of the United States of America. Lincoln’s great achievements were the preservation of the Union and the abolition of slavery. He did not allow the Southern States to break away from the Union and led the country to although he had to pay a heavy price with his life.

Walt Whitman composed two elegies on the assassination of Lincoln-“O Captain ! My Captain” and “When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloomed’. In America the elegy became a thing of remarkable power and beauty in the hands of Walt Whitman. These two elegies were inspired by the death of Abraham Lincoln. Both these elegies are deeply stirring because the grief depicted in them is profound and genuine. The assassination of Lincoln was a cause of intense grief. These elegies are no mere conventional poetry, but result of poignant grief lingering in the soul of the poet.

In this poem “O Captain! My Captain!” Walt Whitman presents Lincoln as a great and beloved captain. After steering the vessel, the American nation, through storm and stress to victory and glory, Lincoln now lies cold and dead on the deck. Whitman describes the greatness of Lincoln’s achievement, the colossal nature of the danger that surrounded, him the loyalty that he inspired in the hearts of the people.

Walt Whitman’s grief becomes more intense. He urges the Captain to “rise up and hear the bells” Then Whitman addresses Lincoln with a more intimate and affectionate title “dear father” There have assembled people in great numbers with garlands and bouquets on the shore. They are eager to great the Captain who now lies cold and dead on the deck. The personal note of grief becomes all the more touching when Whitman says.

“My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still,

My father does not feel my arm”

Whitman again points out that Lincoln led the nation through the blackest hour. Finally, he won laurels and held the nation together at the cost of his own life. The note of rejoicing and exultation is mixed with deep sorrow. Whitman develops the poem out of the metaphor of a voyage. The ship overcame all dangers and the Captain came out victorious but he was killed. Whitman would like to have the episode of Lincoln’s assassination in a dream world. He would very much like Lincoln to live.

The country may be happy because Lincoln preserved the unity of the nation and abolished slavery. But the poet is unhappy because he was personally attached to Lincoln.

“But I, with mournful tread

Walk the deck my Captain lies,

Fallen cold and dead”

These last three lines of the poem are poignant and touch our heart. These lines are remarkable for their memorable ness. Walt Whitman’s fame most surely rests on this elegy.

English Literature — Important links

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Walt Whitman’s “O’ Captain My Captain!” Analysis

Discover or review the meaning of “O Captain! My Captain!” with this “O Captain! My Captain!” analysis. Feel free to download this “O’ Captain! My Captain!” lesson plan with accompanying handout: “O’ Captain! My Captain!” Analysis Lesson Plan. Background to “O’ Captain! My Captain!” Abraham Lincoln was a man Walt Whitman deeply admired and is the captain […]

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"Oh Captain my Captain" by Walt Whitman

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O Captain, My Captain: My Father As My Role Model

"Oh Captain my Captain" by Walt Whitman. (2016, Apr 21). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/oh-captain-my-captain-by-walt-whitman-essay

""Oh Captain my Captain" by Walt Whitman." StudyMoose , 21 Apr 2016, https://studymoose.com/oh-captain-my-captain-by-walt-whitman-essay

StudyMoose. (2016). "Oh Captain my Captain" by Walt Whitman . [Online]. Available at: https://studymoose.com/oh-captain-my-captain-by-walt-whitman-essay [Accessed: 11 Aug. 2024]

""Oh Captain my Captain" by Walt Whitman." StudyMoose, Apr 21, 2016. Accessed August 11, 2024. https://studymoose.com/oh-captain-my-captain-by-walt-whitman-essay

""Oh Captain my Captain" by Walt Whitman," StudyMoose , 21-Apr-2016. [Online]. Available: https://studymoose.com/oh-captain-my-captain-by-walt-whitman-essay. [Accessed: 11-Aug-2024]

StudyMoose. (2016). "Oh Captain my Captain" by Walt Whitman . [Online]. Available at: https://studymoose.com/oh-captain-my-captain-by-walt-whitman-essay [Accessed: 11-Aug-2024]

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O Captain! My Captain! by Walt Whitman - Essay

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