O Captain! My Captain!
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"O Captain! My Captain!" is an extended metaphor poem written in 1865 by Walt Whitman, concerning the death of American president Abraham Lincoln.
[edit] Analysis
Walt Whitman wrote the poem after Abraham Lincoln's assassination. Repeated metaphorical reference is made to this issue throughout the verse. The "ship" spoken of is intended to represent the United States of America, while its "fearful trip" recalls the troubles of the American Civil War. The titular "Captain" is Lincoln himself.[1]
With a conventional meter and rhyme scheme that is unusual for Whitman, it was also the only poem anthologized during Whitman's lifetime. [2]
[edit] References
- ^ Reef, Catherine (2002). Walt Whitman. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. pp. 100. ISBN 0618246169.
- ^ Kaplan, Justin. Walt Whitman: A Life. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1979. ISBN 0671225421. p. 309.
