Critical Analysis of Oh Captain my Captain free essay sample

The poem â€Å"O Captain! My Captain! † written by Walt Whitman is a heart wrenching portrayal of a sailors loss at sea as he trembles in the sight of his dear fallen captain. One might ask; who is this captain? What has he accomplished? And why does the sailor feel so strongly for him? Whitman’s themes of masculinity and patriotism in this poem play well with these questions and show the authors true feelings behind his â€Å"Captain†. To properly analyze such a poem, one must look at the historical context as well as the authors personal beliefs associated with the poem. Walt Whitman wrote â€Å"O Captain! My Captain!  Ã¢â‚¬  in 1865 in response to the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, an event that left the whole country devastated. Aside from his patriotism and love for country, Whitman was an extreme admirer of Abraham Lincoln and portrays his fatherly love for him in this poem. We will write a custom essay sample on Critical Analysis of Oh Captain my Captain or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page He believed that President Lincoln had successfully held the country together through times of war and hardship and despite the grueling task at hand; Lincoln had accomplished his mission of preserving the union. As the war was coming to an end and the possibility of peace and prosperity grew closer and more realistic, Lincoln was abruptly assassinated by John Wilkes Booth. To start, one must recognize the speaker in this poem. The speaker is a sailor who, upon arriving to port after a long grueling journey, witnesses the unforeseen death of the captain of the ship. However, it is important to note that the emotions projected on the sailor are held within Walt Whitman himself. In the beginning lines, the speaker cries â€Å"O Captain! My Captain! Our fearful trip is done; /The ship has weather’d every rack, the prize we sought is won† (Whitman 391, Line 1-2). It is at this point that the reader is informed about the grueling journey that the crew of this ship has gone through to bring home the prize they’ve fought for. In lines three and four of the first stanza, the speaker states â€Å"The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting/While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring† (Whitman 391, Lines 3-4). In this scene, a sense of celebration and happiness is broken by the gloominess and uncertainty of this â€Å"keel† or ship, as it slowly drifts into port. Whitman uses a synecdoche (Team) when he refers to the â€Å"keel† of the ship, as it is only the bottom part along the  side of the vessel. He uses the keel to represent something much more than that (the ship itself). We may also look at the ship as representing more than itself but also the entire Union. The ships eerie entrance foreshadows the untimely death of the captain and sets the tone for the sailors mourning. One may also find it interesting to note the repetitiveness, a trademark of Whitman, of the phrase â€Å"O Captain! My Captain! † as the sailor is speaking to someone who appears to have already passed. Speaking or attempting to solicit a response from someone or something that is not present or has died is referred to as an apostrophe (Team). In the second stanza, the speaker states â€Å"Rise up- for you the flag is flung- for you the bugle trills; 10/ For you bouquets and ribbon’d wreaths- for you the shores a-crowding; / For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning† (Whitman 391, Lines 10-12). In these lines one may see the profound admiration and reverence that the people hold for this captain. This may be compared with the popularity that Lincoln held with most of his countrymen and represents the opinions that people in the preserved Union shared about their beloved president. However it is in the fifth line of the second stanza that the true relationship of the sailor and the captain is revealed. He states, â€Å"Here Captain! dear father! / This arm beneath your head;/ it is some dream that on the deck,/ You’ve fallen cold and dead† (Whitman 391, Lines 13-16). The sailor looks at the captain as a father figure, much like the connection that Whitman felt with Lincoln. There is no actual kinship, however the bond between the two men is exemplified with the inclusion of the word â€Å"father†, as it may also refer to Lincoln being the father of Whitman’s modern day America. The sailor cannot believe his eyes and feels that he is dreaming as he sees the lifeless body of his captain on the deck. It was this tragic shock that the newly formed union and especially Walt Whitman felt after the man who had led the fight to victory was abruptly killed amidst the celebration and cheerfulness. The final stanza seals the fate of the captain as the speaker states, â€Å"My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor will† (Whitman 391, Line 18). In this line the speaker acknowledges that his Captain is no longer with him. The next lines give credit to the Captain for bringing the vessel, our Union, safely into harbor with his mission completed and the prize of a reunited Union in hand. Finally in the last few lines of the poem, the speaker with the loss of his Captain wants the people of the preserved Union to celebrate and rejoice in the victory at hand and to celebrate the life of the man he feels is responsible; however he cannot join them as he is so grief stricken at the loss of this great man, his Captain, his Father, President Lincoln.