![]() ![]() 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. Because this poem is an elegy to the dead, the more traditional format adds to its solemnity. 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. However, "O Captain! My Captain!" is organized into three eight-line stanzas, each with an AABBCDED rhyme scheme. Often hailed as "the father of free verse," Whitman tended to write his poems without following any kind of ordered poetic form. "O Captain! My Captain!" is the only Walt Whitman poem that has a regular meter and rhyme scheme. However, his inner thoughts set him apart from the crowd as he tries to reconcile his emotional reaction to the Captain's death. In Whitman's poem, the speaker believes that he should be part of the "other" group, celebrating the return to safety. While the Civil War claimed many lives, it led to the reunification of the Union, so many Americans felt similarly divided. The speaker struggles with balancing his personal feelings of loss with the celebratory mood resulting from the successful voyage. This particular poem explores a variation on that theme: the self vs. Whitman's poetry places a lot of emphasis on the individual. It was a time of many conflicting sentiments, and Whitman immortalizes this sense of uncertainty in "O Captain! My Captain!" The speaker, torn between relief and despair, captures America's confusion at the end of the Civil War. The Captain represents the assassinated president the ship represents the war-weathered nation following the Civil War the "prize won" represents the salvaged union. It is an extended metaphor intended to memorialize Lincoln's life and work. Whitman wrote this poem shortly after President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. In the final stanza, the speaker juxtaposes his feelings of mourning and pride. Everyone adored the captain, and the speaker admits that his death feels like a horrible dream. In the second stanza, the speaker implores the Captain to "rise up and hear the bells," wishing the dead man could witness the elation. 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 first stanza, the speaker expresses his relief that the ship has reached its home port at last and describes hearing people cheering. Amen.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. If I may be blind to my situation, restore my sight that I may make ready a worthy passage with thee. ![]() Help me to know that I cannot vanquish life by evading duties, nor encircling myself with indulgences. ![]() My Father, give me joyful courage to squarely face my life. Passage, immediate passage! the blood burns in my veins! Away, O soul! hoist instantly the anchor! Out the hawser-haul out-shake out every sail! Have we not stood here like trees in the ground long enough? Have we not groveled here long enough eating and drinking like mere brutes? Have we not darkened and dazed ourselves with books long enough? Sail forth-steer for the deep waters only, Reckless, O soul, exploring, I with thee, and thou with me, For we are bound where mariner has not dared to go, And we will risk the ship, ourselves and all. Be strong and of good courage, fear not, nor be affrighted at them: for Jehovah thy God, he it is that doth go with thee he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. ![]()
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