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. 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. The speaker’s emotional mourning is proof of that.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. It is a real, human tragedy that we should all be deeply affected by. The captain’s death is not just some abstract political event. In that way, the speaker’s affection is a model for us, the audience. He’s a person who is loved and mourned by the speaker. ![]() He’s not just some talking head, a leader with whom we can’t connect. More importantly, his love makes this captain seem more human. His love for the captain strikes us as genuine. Still, this speaker does not come across as the type to rifle through the captain’s garbage or try to chase him through the streets for a cheap photo. We know there are people out there who get way too wrapped up in celebrities, and frankly we would cross the street if we saw these folks coming our way. ![]() ![]() Of course, we’re kidding here, but the point is that this speaker has a very strong connection to the captain, just as Walt Whitman felt strongly about Abraham Lincoln.īy today’s standards, such unbridled attraction to a public figure is (a) kind of common ( for example) and (b) kind of creepy. He’s got all the trading cards, is president of the fan club, and even has an old piece of gum that the captain once chewed. The speaker of “O Captain! My Captain” is super-fanboy #1.
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