Walt+Whitman

//** O Captain My Captain **//

Within the poem “O Captain My Captain”, Walt Whitman expresses his feelings about President Lincoln. The melancholy about this poem proposes it to be an elegy, but on a somewhat joyful scale. Examples of joyous diction within the poem are when he mentions terms such as “prize”, “won”, “bells”, and “people all exulting”. These words give the reader a feeling of excitement and accomplishment. Whitman’s genius in perfecting line length and line repetition truly sets the tone of this poem, and allows the reader to see the true meaning. The first line of each stanza begins with “Captain”, and each stanza ends with “fallen cold and dead”. Whitman’s purpose behind why each stanza begins with “Captain” is to remind the reader that the poems focus in its entirety is upon the Captain, President Lincoln. Moreover, the purpose of placing “fallen cold and dead” at the end of each stanza is to, at first, inform the reader of what is to come, while later its purpose is to simply remind the reader of the tragedy (Lincoln’s assassination). To clarify to his readers the point he is trying to make, Whitman uses repetition frequently. Moreover, Whitman also focuses on the length of each line to better develop the tone of his poem. For example, in the beginning of “O Captain My Captain”, when it contains a positive and joyful mood, the line length moves from long to short presenting, at first, the feeling of enthusiasm, but then grows shorter to produce a worried feeling. When breaking this poem down into specifics, Whitman talks about the ship and it nearing land filled with cheering people, which portrays the Union winning the Civil War and the abolition of slavery. The last line of each stanza symbolizes that Lincoln died before seeing the results he strived so hard to achieve. This use of anaphora emphasizes Whitman’s appreciation and admiration for President Lincoln and is thus the underlying theme of the poem. The voice tries to “wake” President Lincoln because he wants to show how exuberant the cheering people are on the land. The struggle of slavery has ended yet the leader is deceased.
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 * Reflection**:

After reading "O Captain My Captain", it can be observed that Whitman showed a strong devotion towards President Lincoln. I personally can feel the emotional impact that Whitman was attempting to give to his readers. The way Whitman masterfully wrote this poem with mixed emotions truly gives me, as a reader, a roller coaster effect when reading. As with Whitman, I too, look up to and respect someone who has done good things to this country- that person being my grandfather. My grandfather served in the Air Force during WWII, something I think I could have never done. Moreover, till this very day, he has always been there for me, in the stands cheering me on, at every one of my sporting events. Despite him growing weaker with each passing day, his motor is still running and I will always look up to him and respect him.


 * Correlations**:

1. "The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting"-- This line from the poem is essentially saying that Union has won the war and slavery is abolished. 2. "O the bleeding drops of red" --This line from the poem is portraying Lincoln's assassination. 3. "Fallen cold and dead" --This is the last line of each stanza, and symbolizes that Lincoln died before seeing the results he strived so hard to achieve. The use of anaphora with this line emphasizes Whitman’s appreciation and admiration for President Lincoln and is thus the underlying theme of the poem.