Walt Whitman wrote “O Captain, My Captain!” as a dedication to Abraham Lincoln, a man he greatly admired Although it seems like it is just a poem about a sea captain who dies at the end of a victorious voyage, it really refers to Lincoln ‘s untimely death shortly after his victory in the Civil War.
Whitman never met Lincoln, though he would see him daily ride past his home to the Whitehouse accompanied by 25 cavalry with sabers drawn. He said they would courteously nod to one another.
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.
As a 6th grader in a new school, my teacher was dedicated to memorization. This was one of the poems we learned about and memorized. As I recall we were impressed with the history lesson and the poem and I am amazed at how much I still remember of all three verses. Thanks, Jim, for the remembrance.