O Captain! My Captain!: Difference between revisions
| [pending revision] | [pending revision] |
revert |
Reverting an age-old truncation -- does anyone even read this article? |
||
| Line 4: | Line 4: | ||
==Analysis== |
==Analysis== |
||
[[Abraham Lincoln assassination|Abraham Lincoln's assassination]]. Repeated metaphorical reference is made to this issue throughout the verse. The "ship" spoken of is intended to represent the [[United States of America]], while its "fearful trip" recalls the troubles of the [[American Civil War]]. The [[Titular character|titular]] "Captain" is Lincoln himself.<ref>{{cite book|title=Walt Whitman|last=Reef|first=Catherine|pages=100|publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt|year=2002|isbn=0618246169}}</ref> |
Walt Whitman wrote the poem after [[Abraham Lincoln assassination|Abraham Lincoln's assassination]]. Repeated metaphorical reference is made to this issue throughout the verse. The "ship" spoken of is intended to represent the [[United States of America]], while its "fearful trip" recalls the troubles of the [[American Civil War]]. The [[Titular character|titular]] "Captain" is Lincoln himself.<ref>{{cite book|title=Walt Whitman|last=Reef|first=Catherine|pages=100|publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt|year=2002|isbn=0618246169}}</ref> |
||
With a conventional meter and rhyme scheme that is unusual for Whitman, it was also the only poem anthologized during Whitman's lifetime.<ref>Kaplan, Justin. ''Walt Whitman: A Life''. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1979. ISBN 0671225421. p. 309.</ref> |
With a conventional meter and rhyme scheme that is unusual for Whitman, it was also the only poem anthologized during Whitman's lifetime.<ref>Kaplan, Justin. ''Walt Whitman: A Life''. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1979. ISBN 0671225421. p. 309.</ref> |
||
Revision as of 13:35, 26 March 2010
"O Captain! My Captain!" is an extended metaphor poem written in 1865 by Walt Whitman, concerning the death of American president Abraham Lincoln.
Analysis
Walt Whitman wrote the poem after Abraham Lincoln's assassination. Repeated metaphorical reference is made to this issue throughout the verse. The "ship" spoken of is intended to represent the United States of America, while its "fearful trip" recalls the troubles of the American Civil War. The titular "Captain" is Lincoln himself.[1]
With a conventional meter and rhyme scheme that is unusual for Whitman, it was also the only poem anthologized during Whitman's lifetime.[2]
Modern versions
The Israeli poet Naomi Shemer translated the poem into Hebrew, and dedicated it to the former Israeli prime minister-Itzhak Rabin after his murder. The song acted by the Israeli singer Meital Trablesi. There is also a Canadian version after Jacques Smith.
The poem was referred to in the 1989 film Dead Poets Society when English teacher John Keating (Robin Williams) tells the students that they may call him "O Captain! My Captain" if they feel daring.
The Poem
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.
References
- ^ Reef, Catherine (2002). Walt Whitman. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. p. 100. ISBN 0618246169.
- ^ Kaplan, Justin. Walt Whitman: A Life. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1979. ISBN 0671225421. p. 309.