The Mourning of a Sailor
In "O Captain! My Captain" by Walt Whitman, Whitman show's a sailor mourning the loss of his captain and struggling to accept that his captain is dead after a long journey. Whitman paints a clear picture for the reader of a sailor struggling to accept that his captain is dead when they are so close to reaching the shore. In the poem Whitman writes, “The ship has weathered every rack, the prize we sought is won,” He is saying here that they have made it through lots of troubles and the war is won. In the poem it is never expressed how the captain dies but it says that he has fallen cold and dead. He could’ve fell sick very close to the shore or his body could’ve given out because he is older. The sailor calls him father in the poem so it is assumed that the Captain is the sailor’s father. The last line of the first stanza is “Fallen cold and dead”; Whitman is putting emphasis on the fact that the Captain has died.
The first line of the second stanza, the sailor pleads for the Captain to rise up and hear the bells. The sailor continues by saying “for you the flag is flung” this is interpreted as the captain has been a very good leader through the war they have been through. The second stanza is also the first time in the poem that the sailor calls his Captain his father. The sailor has a hard time believing that his father has died and says that it is a dream, but he just doesn’t want to accept the fact that his father is dead. The last line of the second stanza also ends with Whitman putting emphasis on the fact that the Captain has fallen cold and dead.
The third stanza of the poem is the sailor starting to accept that his captain is dead, he speaks to his father but he is not answering. The sailor examines his lips and pulse, realizing that he has no will. At this point in the poem, the ship has been anchored and the voyage has ended. Whitman repeats that the trip was fearful from the first stanza, but they have finished and won. The sailor at this point says that everyone can be happy because they have won, but he continues to mourn and walk the deck where his captain has died. Whitman ends the poem by repeating, “Fallen cold and dead” as the last line. This poem also uses a few words that are not commonly used in everyday language, a couple of those words are: “keel”, “exulting”, and “trills”. The word keel means a ship or boat, the word exulting means to leap for joy, and the word trills the alternation of two musical tones a diatonic second apart. (Merriam-Webster 2018)
This poem show’s the grieving process of a sailor after a long trip. The first stanza of the poem show’s grief, the second stanza show’s denial, and the last stanza show’s acceptance. The sailor seems to move on in the last few lines of the poem and continue to walk the ship his captain has died on. “Walt Whitman's now-famous poem was written in 1865 as an explicit text of mourning for, and celebration of the life of, Abraham Lincoln.”(Lucas) This quote is from a scholarly journal that say’s Whitman’s poem was written in honor of Abraham Lincoln. He believes that Lincoln represents the captain of the ship in the poem. The captain of the ship is a symbol for Abraham Lincoln, the ship itself is a symbol for America, and the sailor is a symbol of the American people. “Whitman's poem presents Lincoln as the beloved captain of the ship of the state – the one whose skills and courage have steered it through almost unimaginable horrors to its twin 'prizes': the end of the war and the restitution of the Union; and the legislative abolition of slavery.”(Lucas)
This poem by Walt Whitman show’s how America was doing during this time period, the American people were mourning the loss of their president after his sudden death. This is a very powerful poem with a lot of important symbols. "O Captain! My Captain!" is far more oft- recited, perhaps because of its brevity and powerful verbal imagery. "O Captain! My Captain!" mourns the loss of a beloved leader, yet exults in the knowledge that the ship of state has successfully weathered a series of severe trials.”(Phillip) This poem does have very powerful verbal imagery; it’s very easy to picture in your head what the words are saying. Overall, this poem was very powerful for it’s length. It takes only 30 seconds to read but the verbal imagery paints a clear picture in your head.
There are many symbols and themes in this poem; you could definitely look at this poem from many different perspectives. One perspective of the poem could be, that it is an elegy for president Abraham Lincoln. This poem by Walt Whitman show’s the grieving process and if it wasn’t as short as it is, it could be a song. The lines go together perfectly with the perfect amount of emotion and strong imagery. Walt Whitman tells a powerful story in 3 stanza’s, while still managing to rhyme. This poem will continue to show Americans throughout history how it was during that time period.
Ultimately, “O Captain! My Captain!” by Walt Whitman is about a sailor mourning the loss of his captain after a long journey has ended. It show’s the different stages of grief along with the sailor accepting his captains fate at the end, and the sailor continues to move on. This poem is a good example of how strong that people can be during extremely difficult times. Even though the sailor’s father has passed away, there is still hope because the sailor continues on at the end of the poem. This poem show’s that even through the toughest times, there is still hope for America and the citizens who live here.