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O Captain! my Captain!

Walt Whitman, Walt Whitman poetry, Secular or Eclectic, Secular or Eclectic poetry, Transcendentalist poetry, [TRADITION SUB2] poetry,  poetry by Walt Whitman
(1819 - 1892) Timeline

Original Language
English

Secular or Eclectic : Transcendentalist
19th Century

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.

 

 

-- from Leaves of Grass, by Walt Whitman

Amazon.com

 

Themes

  Awakening
  Death
  Dream
  Heart
  Sleep


Recommended Books


Dead Poets Society (DVD), by
Leaves of Grass, by Walt Whitman
The Oxford Book of Mystical Verse, Edited by D. H. S. Nicholson / Edited by A. H. E. Lee
Song of Myself, by Walt Whitman

 

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Ivan M. Granger's original poetry, stories and commentaries are Copyright © 2002 - 2011 by Ivan M. Granger.
All other material is copyrighted by the respective authors, translators and/or publishers.