3- Hallie Walther

O Captain My Caption

Walt Whitman

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.

Poets.org. Academy of American Poets, n.d. Web. 24 Sept. 2014.

Robin Williams in O Captain my Captain http://www.mattmcwilliams.com/2-greatest-lessons-learned-robin-williams/

O Captain my Captain tells the story of a group of sailors who are celebrating because they make it back to the harbor safely but then discover that their caption is dead.

The elegy began in ancient Greece as a way to mourn the dead. In an elegy there are 3 parts: a lament, praise and admiration of the person who died, and a solace. In the lament, the author shows their grief and sadness over the loss of the deceased. In the praise and admiration, the author idealizes the dead. Finally, in the solace the author wraps up the piece. In more modern elegys, the author doesn't express grief for a specie persons death but expresses a broadened sense of sadness for a general topic.