O Captain! My Captain!
BY 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.
In the first stanza, the crew is celebrating the ships return to land, until they realize that their captain is dead, as made clear when they say, “You’ve fallen cold and dead”. This is the lamentation part of the elegy, where there is talk of grief and sorrow. The next stanza is where the crew admires the Captain, speaking of the huge welcome he would have received when he returned home. “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”. Finally, the poem is closed with the idea that the crew must go on with life, as expressed by the line, “The ship is anchor’d safe and sound, its voyage closed and done”. I think this poem is the perfect example of a traditional elegy, because it has all three elements: lamentation, admiration, and solace. The message of this poem is that even the people who we revere in life, like the crew who immortalized their Captain, are not exempt from the harsh cruelty that is death.
Whitman, Walter. "O Captain! My Captain!" Poetry Foundation. Poetry Foundation, 23 Sept. 2014. Web. 23 Sept. 2014. <http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/174742>.
Also here is a link to a small clip/clips from the movie, The Dead Poets Society, with Robin Williams that made this quote famous.
We wrote about the same elegy!! I like how you gave a very detailed description of what the poem is about because I have a very hard time understanding poetry. I also liked how you talked about the elements of a traditional elegy without it sounded forced or out of place. Also, I enjoyed the link to the video clip at the end.
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