O Captain! My Captain!
"O Captain! My Captain!" is an extended metaphor poem written in 1865 by Walt Whitman, about the death of American president Abraham Lincoln. The poem was first published in the pamphlet Sequel to Drum-Taps which assembled 18 poems regarding the American Civil War, including anot…
Full Answer
What is the encyclopaedia entry for O Captain my Captain?
Encyclopedia.com Entry on "O Captain! My Captain!" — An extensive introduction to the poem and its context. The "Critical Overview" section is particularly comprehensive, including excerpts from the work of several prominent critics. Beat! Beat! Drums!
What happened to John Keating in O Captain my Captain?
John Keating (played by Robin Williams ), an English teacher at the Welton Academy boarding school, introduces his students to the poem in their first class. Keating is later fired from the school. As Keating returns to collect his belongings, the students stand on their desks and address Keating as "O Captain! My Captain!"
Who wrote “O Captain my Captain”?
A LitCharts expert can help. “O Captain! My Captain!” is an elegy written by Walt Whitman in 1865 to commemorate the death of President Abraham Lincoln. It was first published in Sequel to Drum-Taps (1865), a collection of Whitman’s poems inspired by the events of the American Civil War.
Why is the poem O Captain my Captain so popular?
Since then, it has gained a lot of popularity across the globe on account of its artistic merit. “O Captain! My Captain!” as an Elegy: This poem is written in the form of an elegy meaning a funeral song. Whitman used very strong figurative language throughout the poem to express his respect and to mourn the loss of Abraham Lincoln.
What is the message of O Captain My Captain?
Walt Whitman's poem "O Captain! My Captain!" uses the metaphor of a ship's captain who has died to represent the death of President Abraham Lincoln at the end of the U.S. Civil War. Mourning the death of the captain is a way of expressing grief over the traumatic loss of the president.
How does O Captain My Captain represent American culture?
Most of his poetry reflects on that and is representative of American ideals and culture. He wrote “O Captain My Captain” as an a kind of mourning poem, also called elegy, in order to honor Abraham Lincoln. In the poem, the speaker is shouting out to his captain that they have finally made it back after a scary trip.
What is an elegy write a note on the poem O Captain My Captain explaining why it has been described as an elegy?
Some elegies mourn a way of life that is gone forever. “O Captain! My Captain!” mourns the tragic death of President Abraham Lincoln. The poem was written in honor of President Lincoln following his assassination, and it also has celebratory passages that mark the end of the Civil War.
What is the central idea of the poem O Captain My Captain quizlet?
What is the central idea of this poem? A victory has been achieved but the leader was lost in the process.
What does the captain represent in the poem?
The “captain” represents Lincoln , and the “ship” represents the Civil War; Lincoln was the commander of the Civil War much as a captain would be of his ship. In line two, when it says that “the ship has weather'd every rack,” it is referring to all the lives that were lost during the War.
Why is the death of the captain ironic?
The Captain death is, however, ironic because although the masses don't feel the personal loss that the speaker over the captain's death. In return, the crowd, which represents the American population is at the show to cheer the ships return.
What is the theme of elegy?
An elegy is a poem that reflects upon death or loss. Traditionally, it contains themes of mourning, loss, and reflection.
What does the ship symbolize in O Captain?
The ship in Whitman's poem symbolizes the United States. Just as a ship endures turbulent winds while on the water, the country survived the hardships and sacrifices of the Civil War. The speaker says that they won the prize that they sought during their voyage.
What is the tone of this poem?
To figure out the tone of a poem, understand the writer's attitude toward the subject or the audience. A poem of praise conveys the tone of approval while a satirical poem conveys an ironical tone.
What is the central idea of this poem?
The poem's central theme is contained in the subject matter of the poem. In other words, it is the abstract idea of what the poem is saying about life. A poem may convey different levels of meaning, simultaneously.
What is the main reason that O Captain My Captain is considered an elegy?
My Captain!" after Abraham Lincoln's assassination in 1865. The poem is classified as an elegy or mourning poem, and was written to honor Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States.
What are the three metaphors in O Captain My Captain?
The entire poem is an extended metaphor, or figurative language that implies comparison between seemingly unlike things, for the United States after the Civil War and Abraham Lincoln's assassination. In the metaphor, the captain is Lincoln, the voyage is the war and the ship is the United States.
Extended Metaphor
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Alliteration
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Epistrophe
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Apostrophe
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Caesura
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Anaphora
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End-Stopped Line
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Background
Walt Whitman established his reputation as a poet in the late 1850s to early 1860s with the 1855 release of Leaves of Grass. Whitman intended to write a distinctly American epic and developed a free verse style inspired by the cadences of the King James Bible.
Text
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..
Publication history
Literary critic Helen Vendler thinks it likely that Whitman wrote the poem before "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd", considering it a direct response to "Hush'd Be the Camps To-Day". An early draft of the poem is written in free verse. "My Captain" was first published in The Saturday Press on November 4, 1865.
Style
The poem rhymes using an AABBCDED rhyme scheme, and is designed for recitation. It is written in nine quatrains, organized in three stanzas. Each stanza has two quatrains of four seven-beat lines, followed by a four-line refrain, which changes slightly from stanza to stanza, in a tetrameter / trimeter ballad beat.
Reception
The poem was Whitman's most popular during his lifetime, and the only one to be anthologized before his death. The historian Michael C. Cohen noted that "My Captain" was "carried beyond the limited circulation of Leaves of Grass and into the popular heart"; its popularity remade "history in the form of a ballad".
Themes
Academic Stefan Schöberlein writes that—with the exception of Vendler—the poem's sentimentality has resulted in it being mostly "ignored in English speaking academia". Vendler writes that the poem utilizes elements of war journalism, such as "the bleeding drops of red" and "fallen cold and dead". The poem has imagery relating to the sea throughout.
In popular culture
The poem has frequently been invoked following the deaths of a head of state. After Franklin D. Roosevelt died in 1945, actor Charles Laughton read "O Captain! My Captain!" during a memorial radio broadcast. When John F.
O Captain! My Captain! Meaning
The title of the poem, ‘O Captain! My Captain!’ refers to Abraham Lincoln as a captain of the ship. Here, the “ship” is a symbol of the civil war fought for liberating the slaves. According to the poet, the ship is sailing nearer to the shore, meaning the war is about to end. They have achieved their coveted goal.
Structure
The poem, ‘O Captain! My Captain!’ consists of 3 stanzas in totality having 2 quatrains in each. A quatrain is a stanza consisting of four lines. Besides, this poem is an elegy. An elegy is known as a mourning poem. Apart from that, Whitman uses the free verse form while writing this poem. For this reason, the lines of the poem do not rhyme at all.
Literary Devices
Most of Walt Whitman’s poems use repetition and rhythm for rendering a spellbinding poetic beauty. He uses anaphora constantly as several verses begin with the same word/ phrase. For instance ‘When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomers’ uses ‘when’ 4 times to render a lyrical sound.
Themes
Whitman emphasizes the importance of self in the majority of his poems, ranging from ‘I Hear America Singing’ to others, he prizes the American populace to believe in themselves. More so, he even uses symbolical allusions to drive home a point. He may use inanimate objects for that end.
Similar Poetry
The following poems are similar to the themes and subject matter of Whitman’s lyric, ‘O Captain! My Captain!’.
Overview
"O Captain! My Captain!" is an extended metaphor poem written by Walt Whitman in 1865 about the death of U.S. president Abraham Lincoln. Well received upon publication, the poem was Whitman's first to be anthologized and the most popular during his lifetime. Together with "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd", "Hush'd Be the Camps To-day", and "This Dust was Once the Man", it i…
Background
Walt Whitman established his reputation as a poet in the late 1850s to early 1860s with the 1855 release of Leaves of Grass. Whitman intended to write a distinctly American epic and developed a free verse style inspired by the cadences of the King James Bible. The brief volume, first released in 1855, was considered controversial by some, with critics particularly objecting to Whitman's blunt depictions of sexuality and the poem's "homoerotic overtones". Whitman's work received signific…
Text
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; Ri…
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; Ri…
Publication history
Literary critic Helen Vendler thinks it likely that Whitman wrote the poem before "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd", considering it a direct response to "Hush'd Be the Camps To-Day". An early draft of the poem is written in free verse. "My Captain" was first published in The Saturday Press on November 4, 1865. Around the same time, it was included in Whitman's book, Sequel to Dru…
Style
The poem rhymes using an AABBCDED rhyme scheme, and is designed for recitation. It is written in nine quatrains, organized in three stanzas. Each stanza has two quatrains of four seven-beat lines, followed by a four-line refrain, which changes slightly from stanza to stanza, in a tetrameter/trimeter ballad beat. Historian Daniel Mark Epstein wrote in 2004 that he considers the structure of the poem to be "uncharacteristically mechanical, formulaic". He goes on to describe the poem a…
Reception
The poem was Whitman's most popular during his lifetime, and the only one to be anthologized before his death. The historian Michael C. Cohen noted that "My Captain" was "carried beyond the limited circulation of Leaves of Grass and into the popular heart"; its popularity remade "history in the form of a ballad". Initial reception to the poem was very positive. In early 1866, a reviewer in the Boston Commonwealth wrote that the poem was the most moving dirge for Lincoln ever writt…
Themes
Academic Stefan Schöberlein writes that—with the exception of Vendler—the poem's sentimentality has resulted in it being mostly "ignored in English speaking academia". Vendler writes that the poem utilizes elements of war journalism, such as "the bleeding drops of red" and "fallen cold and dead". The poem has imagery relating to the sea throughout. Genoways considers the be…
In popular culture
The poem, which never mentions Lincoln by name, has frequently been invoked following the deaths of a head of state. After Franklin D. Roosevelt died in 1945, actor Charles Laughton read "O Captain! My Captain!" during a memorial radio broadcast. When John F. Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963, "O Captain! My Captain!" was played on many radio stations, extending the 'ship of state' metaphor to Kennedy. Following the 1995 assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yit…