where was o captain my captain written

Full Answer

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.

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!

Where can I find O Captain my Captain public domain audiobooks?

O Captain! My Captain! public domain audiobook at LibriVox " O Captain! My Captain! " (1865) " Pioneers! O Pioneers! " (1865) Hurd v. Rock Island Bridge Co.

What is the theme of the poem O Captain my Captain?

Apart from that, Whitman uses the themes of victory, lamentation, grief, sadness, and loss in his poem, ‘O Captain! My Captain!’. Though this poem concerns the theme of victory, it contains a sad note on the death of Lincoln. The poet creates contrast by transposing the images of the joyous crowd beside the lifeless body of the captain.

Where did Oh captain my captain come from?

O Captain! My Captain!, three-stanza poem by Walt Whitman, first published in Sequel to Drum-Taps in 1865. From 1867 the poem was included in the 1867 and subsequent editions of Leaves of Grass.

When did Walt Whitman wrote the poem O Captain My Captain?

O Captain! My Captain! On February 9, 1888, Walt Whitman penned a note to the publishers of The Riverside Literature Series No. 32 calling attention to mistakes in their recently printed version of his poem, “O Captain!

Where was the poem O Captain My Captain first published?

the New York Saturday PressMy Captain!” was first published in the New York Saturday Press (November 1865) and was later included, along with “When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd,” in a group of poems titled “Sequel” to Drum Taps (1865).

Why was the poem O Captain My Captain written?

Walt Whitman wrote “Oh Captain! My Captain!” to honor Abraham Lincoln after the President was assassinated in 1865.

Who was the poem O Captain My Captain written about?

Walt WhitmanO Captain! My Captain! / AuthorWalter Whitman was an American poet, essayist and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among the most influential poets in the American canon, often called the father of free verse. Wikipedia

What is the main theme of the poem O Captain My Captain?

The major theme that runs throughout the poem is the death of Abraham Lincoln at the end of the Civil War, which deprived the United States of the great president. Each stanza gives us a clue about the war. Although the fearful trip ends, bells ring, the captain is no more to enjoy the victory.

What does Fallen cold and dead mean?

The poem is an extended metaphor: (1) Lincoln is the captain who has “fallen cold and dead,” having been assassinated shortly after the Civil War had ended; (2) the “fearful trip” is the Civil War; (3) “the prize we sought” is the preservation of the Union, something which both Whitman and Lincoln felt was the supreme ...

Who is the audience in O Captain My Captain?

mass audienceCapturing the triumph and grief of the war's end, "O Captain" is a public poem for a mass audience, an elegy remembering a beloved president. Intended for a large, inclusive readership, "O Captain" became the most recited and popular of Whitman's works.

Who is the speaker in O Captain My Captain?

The speaker in the poem O Captain! My Captain!, written by American poet Walt Whitman, is unnamed but is thought to be Walt Whitman himself. Walt Whitman had a deep admiration for Abraham Lincoln and was deeply affected or moved by his death and assassination.

What does weathered every rack mean?

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.

How many words are in Caesura's O Captain?

Unlock all 272 words of this analysis of Caesura in “O Captain! My Captain!,” and get the poetic device analyses for every poem we cover.

Who wrote Whitman on Lincoln?

Poetry and the Mediation of Value: Whitman on Lincoln — This is the text of a lecture by Professor Helen Vendler, a famous authority on American and British poetry. Although it is an academic lecture, it is written in an accessible style.

Who is the subject of the book Two Worlds of Mourning?

Two Worlds of Mourning: Walt Whitman and Abraham Lincoln’s Death — This resource from the National Portrait Gallery dives in to the relationship between Walt Whitman and the subject of his elegy, President Abraham Lincoln.

Who wrote "My Captain"?

My Captain!’ was authored by famous American poet Walt Whitman. It alluded to President Abraham Lincoln’s death in 1865. The poem was a part of his controversially famous collection of poems “Leaves of Grass”. The poetic collection continuously was revised to add new poetic pieces from Walt Whitman as a result.

What does "o Captain my captain" mean?

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.

What is Walt Whitman's masterpiece?

Walt Whitman’s masterpiece, ‘O Captain! My Captain!’ moves with a sheer melancholic tone throughout its entirety. He was the new-age poet, poised with breaking away from the shackles of established poetic practices and forming new ones just as America is created for a different purpose, tearing away from the yoke of colonialism ...

What is the focal point of the poem at hand?

The speaker ’s coming to terms with the death of his fallen comrade is the focal point of the poem at hand. At the start of the poem, the speaker attempts to come to reality as he observes his dead captain on the deck. Slowly and gradually, he realizes that the change is permanent and life must go, regardless.

When did Omer join the Poem Analysis team?

Omer joined the Poem Analysis team back in November 2015. He has a keen eye for poetry and enjoys analysing them, providing his intereptation of poems from the past and present.

Who wrote the poem "The Negro speaks of rivers"?

The Negro Speaks of Rivers by Langston Hughes – It’s one of the best-known poems of Langston Hughes. This poem concerns a man who has seen the great ages of the world and listened to Mississippi while Lincoln was sibling down it. You can also read about the best Walt Whitman poems and incredible death poems.

Is the captain of the ship his biological father?

In actuality, the ship’s captain is not his biological father, but truly his respect and reverence for him stand greater than his actual father. The sailor looks at the fallen comrade and wishes this nightmare was just a dream. Alas! As the reality sets in, the sailor realizes, the damage is irreparable.

What does the speaker report to his captain?

The speaker, a sailor, reports to his captain that the ship has completed its journey. They have returned from a successful voyage. The crowd is celebrating on the shore to welcome home the captain.

What pleads the captain to rise up as people erupt in joy and wait to have a look at?

The speaker pleads the captain to rise up as people erupt in joy and wait to have a look at their captain.

What is the poem "The Ship" about?

The poet here uses the ship as an extended metaphor for the Union who won the Civil War but lost its leader (the captain) in the end. The grief of the entire nation after the unfortunate death of the leader is caught up in Whitman’s poem.

To Think of Time

1 To think of time—of all that retrospection! To think of to-day, and the ages continued henceforward! Have you guess'd you yourself would not continue? Have you dreaded these earth-beetles? Have you fear'd the future would be nothing to you? Is to-day nothing? Is the beginningless past nothing? If the future is nothing, they are just as surely nothing.

This Compost

1 Something startles me where I thought I was safest, I withdraw from the still woods I loved, I will not go now on the pastures to walk, I will not strip the clothes from my body to meet my lover the sea, I will not touch my flesh to the earth as to other flesh to renew me. O how can it be that the ground itself does not sicken? How can you be alive you growths of spring? How can you furnish health you blood of herbs, roots, orchards, grain? Are they not continually putting distemper'd corpses within you? Is not every continent work'd over and over with sour dead? Where have you disposed of their carcasses? Those drunkards and gluttons of so many generations? Where have you drawn off all the foul liquid and meat? I do not see any of it upon you to-day, or perhaps I am deceiv'd, I will run a furrow with my plough, I will press my spade through the sod and turn it up underneath, I am sure I shall expose some of the foul meat. 2 Behold this compost! behold it well! Perhaps every mite has once form'd part of a sick person—yet behold! The grass of spring covers the prairies, The bean bursts noiselessly through the mould in the garden, The delicate spear of the onion pierces upward, The apple-buds cluster together on the apple-branches, The resurrection of the wheat appears with pale visage out of its graves, The tinge awakes over the willow-tree and the mulberry-tree, The he-birds carol mornings and evenings while the she-birds sit on their nests, The young of poultry break through the hatch'd eggs, The new-born of animals appear, the calf is dropt from the cow, the colt from the mare, Out of its little hill faithfully rise the potato's dark green leaves, Out of its hill rises the yellow maize-stalk, the lilacs bloom in the dooryards, The summer growth is innocent and disdainful above all those strata of sour dead. What chemistry! That the winds are really not infectious, That this is no cheat, this transparent green-wash of the sea which is so amorous after me, That it is safe to allow it to lick my naked body all over with its tongues, That it will not endanger me with the fevers that have deposited themselves in it, That all is clean forever and forever, That the cool drink from the well tastes so good, That blackberries are so flavorous and juicy, That the fruits of the apple-orchard and the orange-orchard, that melons, grapes, peaches, plums, will none of them poison me, That when I recline on the grass I do not catch any disease, Though probably every spear of grass rises out of what was once a catching disease. Now I am terrified at the Earth, it is that calm and patient, It grows such sweet things out of such corruptions, It turns harmless and stainless on its axis, with such endless successions of diseas'd corpses, It distills such exquisite winds out of such infused fetor, It renews with such unwitting looks its prodigal, annual, sumptuous crops, It gives such divine materials to men, and accepts such leavings from them at last..

What does "o captain my captain" mean?

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.

What is the apostrophe in the poem "O Captain"?

The poem uses a device called apostrophe, the invocation or calling upon of a person, thing, place, or idea. This is often signified through the use of the word ''O,'' as in ''O Captain!!'' and ''O heart!''

How many times does the poem "The Captain has fallen cold and dead" say the loss of the ship?

The Captain has ''fallen cold and dead,'' the poem states three times, emphasizing the loss to the ship. By comparison, the U.S. was facing the death of its leader, Lincoln.

What is the third stanza of Captain?

The third stanza returns to describing the Captain. In contrast to the noisy responses of the crowd, the Captain's body is lifeless, ''pale and still,'' with ''no pulse nor will.'' Though the voyage is over and successful, the poetic speaker continues to mourn the death of the Captain.

What is the first line of Whitman's poem?

Several lines from Whitman's poem have become famous. The first line and title, ''O Captain! My Captain!,'' is a powerful call to remember leaders. Much as the poem is a remembrance of the passing of Lincoln, it is also a celebration of victory and the conclusion of the Civil War. This is clear from the first stanza, which states that ''the prize we sought is won.'' The poem's most memorable quote about victory, however, might be from the last stanza, which states ''From fearful trip the victor ship comes in with object won.''