A Close Reading of “Oh Captain! My Captain! E Walt Whitman’s poem, “Oh Captain! My Captain! Eis easily taken at face value. There are young sailors coming back from a long, hard journey, to find a pier full of excited bystanders to greet their return. The narrator goes on to tell the captain the good news and finds him dead, and not able to celebrate with the rest of the population. There is an extensive metaphor between the captain of the ship and Abraham Lincoln. With the knowledge of what was happening in history at that time and re-reading the poem, a completely different story is told. The first few lines of the poem introduce this metaphor, alluding to the Civil War period, which the rest of the poem expands on.
This metaphor between Lincoln and the captain is conveying Whitman’s grief towards recent events. The diction in this poem consists of repetitive phrases along with powerful and moving words, which are sad in nature. “But O heart! heart! heart! E 5) imitates the rhythm of the human heartbeat, which has stopped for the captain. It also depicts the adrenaline rush, which makes the heart beat in faster repetitions.
This description followed by; “O the bleeding drops of red! Where on the deck my Captain lies, E (6-7); conveys an image of the sailor watching the man lying on the deck without life, but is not convinced that he is actually dead. The situation, “fallen cold and dead. E 8) alludes to the fact that Whitman is in denial towards the death of Lincoln. Extending on this idea, with the recent accomplishments of winning the Civil War and holding on to the Union, he feels that Lincoln’s death is impossible.
The Essay on Comparison Of Whitman And Dickenson Poems
... Whitman also use similar poetic devices in "Hope is a Thing with Feathers and O Captain! My Captain! Each poem contains an extended metaphor. ... return. O Captain! My Captain! contains a more complicated and cryptic extended metaphor.Basically, Abraham Lincoln captains the metaphorical ... O Captain! My Captain! contains even more exceptions to the iambic meter. Line 5, But O heart! heart! heart! ...
Whitman later talks about the celebration with references towards the bells, flag, bugles, bouquets, wreaths, and crowded shores, which are described in lines (9-10): O Captain! My Captain! rise up and hear the bells Rise up Efor you the flag is flung Efor you the bugle trills, For you bouquets and ribbon’d wreaths Efor you the shores a crowding, When looking at the situation, a welcome back celebration for the captain and his crew is seen. However, as the metaphor is thought of, there are two meanings that can be achieved. The bells, bugles, flag, and crowds can be symbols of the end of the war from the military standpoint. The flowers and wreaths are forms of congratulations from people supporting the Union. From a different standpoint, however, the people could be mourning the death of Lincoln along with Whitman. In this case, these are all symbols that would go along with a funeral service for an accomplished military man (Meg.
) In line 13, Whitman says, “Here Captain! dear father! When breaking this line down you think of the Captain, being the leader of a ship and father, being the leader of a household. When Lincoln is put into the equation, you get that Lincoln is the father of the ship, with the ship being the country. This shows why the death of the captain is taken so hard. The poem could also be seen with “fatherErelating to the family sense of one you look up to, learn from, and respect. Along this same line of thought, you grow up loving your father and when he dies, a part of you dies with him. To reiterate the disbelief of Lincoln being dead, Walt says, Here Captain! dear father! This arm beneath your head! It is some dream that on the deck, You ” ve fallen cold and dead.
(13-16) Whitman is talking to Lincoln as if he were still alive, further pushing himself downward into denial. During the first few lines of the last stanza, Whitman begins to face reality. “My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still, E (17); he has taken time to notice details of the body. With lips that cannot move, there is no way for a captain to lead his ship or for Lincoln to command his country now that they are through the war. “My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor willE (18).
The Homework on Line Father Ship People
Dear Grandfather, December 22, 1880 We finally arrived, mother father and I. we all miss you grandmother and china so much. How is everything, we are all fine... We got off Angel Island three days ago and now we are at our new home. Its not the greatest especially compared to our home with you and grandmother in China, but I have to say that anything is better than the ship ride here, to America. ...
Now he accepts the truth; Lincoln is dead.
Now the speaker turns back to the victory. Line 20 explains, “the ship is anchor’d safe and sound, its voyage closed and done, E going back to the recent events of fighting a war, though it was rough the Union came out on top. The last four lines of the poem conclude Whitman’s description of grief: Exult, O shores, and ring, O bells! But, I with mournful tread, Walk the deck my Captain lies, Fallen cold and dead. (21-24) Everyone is rejoicing due to the out come of the war. Whitman is glad the war is over, but also continues to grieve the loss of his “father. E Works Cited Meg.
O Captain! My Captain! : Walt Whitman Campfire. May 29, 2002. web.
