“O Captain! My Captain!”
by Walt Whitman
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.
Meanings of O Captain! My Captain! by Walt Whitman
Walt Whitman dedicates his poem “O Captain, My Captain” to Abraham Lincoln who played a decisive role in the American Civil War and finally breathed his last shortly after the war ends. The poem pays tribute to the leader, calling him a captain which is also the main idea of the poem.
Meanings of Stanza -1
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.
Walt Whitman calls the captain of the ship to tell him that the fearful trip of their voyage has come to an end. The ship has faced every storm, and they have won the prize. Now their destination is close as the bells are telling him. The people are waiting for them on the coast. As the ship is moving at a slow pace, yet its style is daring and courageous. Then he musters up his full courage to disclose that the captain is lying dead now when they have achieved the aim of winning the prize. Actually, the poet wants to mourn the death of Lincoln, who, after achieving great victory in the Civil War, breathed his last in an assassination attempt. The repetition of captain and heart shows the poet’s love for the captain. This stanza shows the public appreciation for the role of the captain during the war that is Abraham Lincoln.
Meanings of Stanza -2
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.
The poet calls the captain to hear the bells and get up to see that they have achieved their aim and that they are on the verge of hoisting their flag. The captain is now required to beat the drums, blow the pipe, receive the bouquets, and lay the wreaths on the graves of the dead ones. He is to respond to the public appreciation, pacify the public and respond to their sloganeering. However, the poet sees that the captain himself is dead. He informs his father that he sees the captain cold and dead lying on the deck of the ship as if in some dream. The valiant death of the captain shows the poet appreciating the role of the captain as well as mourning his death. It is the death of Abraham Lincoln. This stanza contributes to the main idea of the poem, which is the celebration after the victory in the Civil War and the appreciation of Abraham Lincoln for his role in it.
Meanings of Stanza -3
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.
Now the poet has realized up to this stanza that despite his repetitions and exultations, the captain has never answered him. He sees that the captain is showing no emotions. His lips are pale. The father of the speaker does not feel him, nor does he sees his pulse or will. As the ship is quite safe in the harbor and there is no need for a second voyage, their objective is achieved. Now the speaker asks the shores and the bells to celebrate the victory and also mourns the death of the captain, who is lying dead on the deck. These lines show the moment of mourning as well as celebration. This stanza sums up the entire idea of the poem, which is the lugubrious mood as well as the celebratory excitement of the poet.
Summary of “O Captain! My Captain!”
Popularity: “O Captain! My Captain!” a renowned poem written by Walt Whitman, was one of the 18 poems written with the background of the Civil War in America. It was first published in 1865 in a pamphlet named Sequel to Drum-Taps. This poem, having historical value, was written as a tribute to Abraham Lincoln, the American President whom Whitman admired. 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. The expression of mourning and grief marks the center of the poem. However, what stays in the mind of the readers is the speaker’s passionate expression of his love for his dead captain.
Major Themes: The poem comprises sentiments of the speaker at the demise of his captain. The speaker admires his captain for the victory they have won together. 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 a great president. Each stanza gives us a clue about the war. Although the fearful trip ends, bells ring, and the captain is no more to enjoy the victory.
Analysis of the Literary Devices in O Captain! My Captain!
literary devices serve as a tool to project hidden meanings in the text. With the help of literary devices, the authors equip their simple texts with powerful impacts on their readers. Whitman, too, has enriched this poem, using following literary devices.
- Metaphor: There are three extended metaphors in the poem. The first extended metaphor is “Captain,” used in the first line that runs throughout the poem. Here Captain represents Abraham Lincoln who loses his life in the battle. The second metaphor is “Voyage,” which presents the Civil War. The journey of the voyage is full of tests and trials, but now the ship is nearing the port represents the timeline of the Civil War. The third metaphor, “ship” represents the United States that has undergone the Civil War.
- Personification: Whitman has used personification to give human qualities to lifeless objects. He has personified the walk of the speaker as a “mournful tread” because he cannot live without his captain. He has also personified shores in line 21 where it is stated, “Exult, O Shores!” As if the shores are humans and they are going to blow trumpets of victory.
- Imagery: Imagery appeals to the five senses of the readers. The poet has used visual imagery such as, “cold and dead”, “Lips are pale and still”, bleeding drops of red” and “mournful tread.” Whitman’s choice of powerful words has made the reader visualize the death of the captain.
- Apostrophe: An apostrophe is a device used to call somebody or something from afar. Here the poet has used an apostrophe to call his dead captain. The phrase, “O Captain! My Captain!” expresses the love and attachment of the speaker to his captain.
- Alliteration: Alliteration is the repetition of the same consonant sounds in the same lines of the poetry, such as the use of /f/ in “flag is flung” and the sound of /s/ in “safe and sound.”
- Consonance: Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds, such as /g/ sound in “flag is flung.”
- Assonance: An assonance is a repetition of the vowel sounds in the same line, such as the sounds of /i/ in “ship and “trip.”
Analysis of Poetic Devices in O Captain My Captain
Although most of the poetic devices share the same qualities as literary devices, there are some which can only be used in poetry. The analysis of some of the poetic devices is given below.
- Stanza: A stanza is a poetic form of some lines. In this poem, there are three stanzas, with each stanza having eight verses.
- Double Quatrain: Quatrain refers to a four-line stanza, whereas Double Quatrain refers to an eight-line stanza. There are eight lines in each stanza in this poem, but the first four and last four lines are embedded together with different meters.
- Heroic Couplet: Walt Wittman has written this poem in the form of the heroic couplet, but he has broken the last two stanzas into four lines each, using the conventional meter and end rhyme.
- Rhyme: The poem follows AABBCDED with some internal rhymes. However, the poet has not followed a specific rhyme scheme in the entire poem.
- Scansion: It refers to a poem that does not follow a traditional or patterned meter. Although the meter is mainly iambic, there are many inconsistencies. Hence, it is a scansion in structure.
- Refrain: The lines repeated at some distance in the poems are called a refrain. In “O Captain! My Captain!” and “fallen cold and dead” used in the first and last stanza is a refrains that build a sort of tension in the poem.
- Repetition: There is a repetition of phrases, “fallen cold and dead” and “O Captain! My Captain!” which have created the required musical quality in the poem.
These structural devices or poetic devices have enhanced the meanings in a way that the pain and sorrows of passionate intensity have not lost their impact on the readers.
Quotations for Usage from “O Captain! My Captain!”
- These lines can be used to celebrate the victory to congratulate a captain, leader, or group leader to pay tributes for his leadership qualities.
“O Captain! My Captain! Our fearful trip is done,
The ship has weather’d every rack, the prize we sought is won.”