"Walt Whitman: Poems “O Captain! My Captain!” Summary and Analysis". Next Section "Beat! Beat! Drums!" Summary and Analysis Previous Section "O Me! O Life!" Summary and Analysis Buy Study Guide How To Cite in MLA Format Gundersen, Kathryn. Additionally, the regular meter is reminiscent of a soldier marching across the battlefield, which is fitting for a poem that commemorates the end of the Civil War. Because this poem is an elegy to the dead, the more traditional format adds to its solemnity. Each stanza closes with the words "fallen cold and dead," and the first four lines of each stanza are longer than the last four lines. However, "O Captain! My Captain!" is organized into three eight-line stanzas, each with an AABBCDED rhyme scheme. The poem mourns the death of American president Abraham Lincoln and tells how the great leader was the ca. Often hailed as "the father of free verse," Whitman tended to write his poems without following any kind of ordered poetic form. O Captain My Captain' is written by Walt Whitman. "O Captain! My Captain!" is the only Walt Whitman poem that has a regular meter and rhyme scheme. However, his inner thoughts set him apart from the crowd as he tries to reconcile his emotional reaction to the Captain's death. In Whitman's poem, the speaker believes that he should be part of the "other" group, celebrating the return to safety. While the Civil War claimed many lives, it led to the reunification of the Union, so many Americans felt similarly divided. The speaker struggles with balancing his personal feelings of loss with the celebratory mood resulting from the successful voyage. This particular poem explores a variation on that theme: the self vs. Whitman's poetry places a lot of emphasis on the individual. It was a time of many conflicting sentiments, and Whitman immortalizes this sense of uncertainty in "O Captain! My Captain!" The speaker, torn between relief and despair, captures America's confusion at the end of the Civil War. He also served as a volunteer nurse, caring for the thousands of wounded soldiers who filled the nearby military hospitals. The Captain represents the assassinated president the ship represents the war-weathered nation following the Civil War the "prize won" represents the salvaged union. It is an extended metaphor intended to memorialize Lincoln's life and work. Whitman wrote this poem shortly after President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. In the final stanza, the speaker juxtaposes his feelings of mourning and pride. ![]() Everyone adored the captain, and the speaker admits that his death feels like a horrible dream. In the second stanza, the speaker implores the Captain to "rise up and hear the bells," wishing the dead man could witness the elation. Despite the celebrations on land and the successful voyage, the speaker reveals that his Captain's dead body is lying on the deck. In the first stanza, the speaker expresses his relief that the ship has reached its home port at last and describes hearing people cheering. O CAPTAIN MY CAPTAIN takes us into the Civil War through the eyes of a poet who loves each man and woman equally and it will touch your heart.įinal Verdict: I would recommend this to fans of history, the Civil War era, war, Abraham Lincoln, and poetry.The poem is an elegy to the speaker's recently deceased Captain, at once celebrating the safe and successful return of their ship and mourning the loss of its great leader. Abraham was Walt's captain and even though the civil war was won, his captain had been killed. ![]() I must admit that after reading this book and then reading the poem in the back of the book, tears sprung to my eyes to stream down my face. "O Captain, My Captain" has always been one of my favorite poems, but after learning about it's relevance to Abraham Lincoln gives it a whole new meaning. So, he visited the wounded and stood at their side, giving them company. Even though there wasn't much he could do, he couldn't leave them. He could never raise a sword or a gun to another person, yet he found himself lingering among the wounded. When his brother gets injured, Walt travels to the camp he's residing in to visit. However, he could see that war was taking a toll on Lincoln as much as the soldiers. He even caught glimpses of the president here and there and it brought joy to his heart. To him, Lincoln was the president the US needed with all of the slavery and corruption spreading through the streets. O CAPTAIN MY CAPTAIN teaches us more about Walt Whitman's life and his time spent during the Civil War.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |