“O captain! My Captain!” is written by Walt Whitman in 1865 in which is that the 16th president of the U.S., Abraham Lincoln, was shot to death. People at that time fell in deep sorrow for his death, Whitman also mourned the president Lincoln by writing a poem. So, overall mood in his work is very depressed, and have much esteem for the president in it.
First of all, the poem is very exquisite and dramatic. It appeared imaginable as like I see the blood on the deck, a man crying. Also, from first to last part, speaker’s voice had changed; he hold his captain’s head with deep grief, and eventually he walked weekly through on the deck. The situation of the poem is that a ship is reached to the port. And the people on the ship were exulting
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Everything around him and the captain was peaceful and safe, but the person he looks up to is dead in deed. This poem is ended with “ But I with mournful tread, Walk the deck my Captain lied, Fallen cold and dead.” This seems to him overcoming the captain’s death and trying to move on. It makes the mood more deeply sad. This poem is all for Abraham Lincoln. Whitman wrote it to honor Lincoln and it became the most popular poem of him. Furthermore, the title “O Captain! My Captain!” is used to express someone’s admiration. For instance, the movie “Dead Poet Society” quoted Whitman’s poem at the ending scene. One review from the movie apprised the line to “[o]ne of the bst arts of the movie is when the students stand on their desks and call him this.” Like this movie, this phrase became to express the honor. In conclusion, “O Captain! My Captain!” contains a man’s reverence for his captain; in fact, it is symbolized to that a man is the author Walt Whitman, and the captain is the president Abraham Lincoln after he died. Much sorrow and admiration was for cherishing the memory and accomplishment of Lincoln. It became the most popular piece of Whitman, and it might because many people at that time were mourning too for the death of their unlikely valuable
My initial response to the poem was a deep sense of empathy. This indicated to me the way the man’s body was treated after he had passed. I felt sorry for him as the poet created the strong feeling that he had a lonely life. It told us how his body became a part of the land and how he added something to the land around him after he died.
Walt Whitman is considered one of the famous American writers who lived in the 19th century. The author is primarily known for his poetry, and also best known for his masterpiece, Leaves of Grass, which was published in 1855 as a collection of 12 poems. Whitman’s poems were different from those written during the era, and this is because they had a unique style, as well as a concentration of commonplace subjects. The use of commonplace subjects led to many people calling the author the “poet of democracy.” This paper compares Pre-war Whitman and Post-war Whitman. However, this is done through comparing the Song of Myself, Beat! Beat! Drums!, and The Wound Dresser. In addition, the essay also focuses on other facets of the poet.
In Walt Whitman’s poem Oh Captain! My Captain! He talks about the death of America’s commander and chief, Abraham Lincoln. Whitman published this poem in his book of poems about the civil war causing him to become one of a handful of people to be the only ones who did not participate in the war, but wrote about it. In fact, Whitman uses various metaphors to tell of the death of Abraham Lincoln to the common people of the Union.
In the first five stanzas, the author discusses the already submerged ship. ?Stilly couches she,? describes the ship resting on the bottom of the ocean. The lines, ?Jewels in joy designed?lie lightless, all their sparkles bleared and black and blind?, point out the waste of money, technology and craftsmanship going down with the ship which is consistently mentioned in these stanzas. In the next six stanzas he describes the iceberg and the ship meeting together as one in destiny.
Whitman’s poem was written in the mid-1800s during the industrial revolution, but Hughes’ poem was written in the 1900s during the Civil Rights Movement. This is important because the Civil Rights Movement established the signing of the Declaration of Independence and the Industrial Revolution moved at a slow place but there were still issues with slavery. Whitman’s poem was free verse while Hughes’ poem was traditional rhyme/rhythm. The tone of Whitman’s poem was patriotic and celebratory (I HEAR America singing, the varied carols I hear); because he was paying tribute to the success of the individuals; however, the tone of Hughes’ poem was sarcastic and frustrated (to build a “homeland of the free,’’ because he didn’t feel like some individuals were allowed to experience the American Dream. Whitman’s theme of his poem was that individuals and liberties make America great. On the other hand, Hughes’ theme of his poem expressed that individuals felt excluded from the “homeland of the free.” The purpose of Whitman’s poem is praise for universal brotherhood. However, Hughes’ poem’s purpose was to inform individuals about inequality, meaning that not everyone has the same liberties in America. Whitman’s poem focused on the jobs of the workers, while Hughes’ poem focused on race, social status, and a list to represent the “I am’’ phrase; (I am the Negro bearing slavery’s scars). He also
I think from the attitude of the diver, he was suicidal. As he dove into the sea, he does so at a high speed and with reckless abandon, taking to account all the details of everything he sees as he plunged deeper into the sea. “swiftly descended/free falling, weightless”. He was doing all he could to forget about life as he descends “…. Lost images/fadingly remembered.” Initially in his descent into the ocean, the diver, having decided to end his life, treated the images in the sea as if they would be the last things he will see before his death, so I think he thought it best to savor his last moments while he had the time. When he got to the ship, he described all that was there. While I read the poem, I couldn’t help but conjure those images in my mind. The ship was very quiet and cold when he entered it but the silence drew him in and he was eager to go in, not minding the cold because at that moment he was suicidal and didn’t care about life. With the help of a flashlight, he saw chairs moving slowly and he labeled the movement as a “sad slow dance”. From this, I think the speaker is trying to point out that there are sad memories on the ship. There is no story of how the ship got to the bottom of the sea, but it seems the ship used to be a place of fun, celebration, and happiness. Now that it is wrecked and in the bottom of the sea, the
(A critique of Walt Whitman’s themes and ideas in Song of Myself 6, 46, 47)
O Me! O Life! by Walt Whitman illustrates the true meaning of life, and how living a fuller life should be one's primary goal even in the midst of difficult times. Whitman reflects on the “poor results of all, of the plodding and sordid crowds” he sees around him. In the first stanza, Whitman includes the essence of the “sordid” crowd to indicate its sorrowful factors. By focusing on the evil’s that surround him, Whitman is asking himself if his life is even worth living. In the second stanza, Whitman dares to answer his own question by exhibiting how the “play goes on, and you may contribute a verse.” Revealing his answer to the question entitles the people to know that even though difficult times surround them, their lives will continue and
Walt Whitman is the author of a book titled Leaves of Grass. Inside this book, are many sections of one large poem. Some people who have reviewed Whitman’s work, criticized him countless times for being egoistic. Even though Whitman speaks very highly of himself, that is not the sole focus in his poem “Song of Myself”. There are many accounts throughout “Song of Myself” of Whitman uplifting others.
The phrasing of this poem can be analyzed on many levels. Holistically, the poem moves the father through three types of emotions. More specifically, the first lines of the poem depict the father s deep sadness toward the death of his son. The line Farewell, thou child of my right hand, and joy creates a mental picture in my mind (Line 1). I see the father standing over the coffin in his blackest of outfits with sunglasses shading his eyes from the sun because even the sun is too bright for his day of mourning. The most beautiful scarlet rose from his garden is gripped tightly in his right hand as tears cascade down his face and strike the earth with a splash that echoes like a scream in a cave, piercing the ears of those gathered there to mourn the death of his son.
Walt Whitman's "Song of Myself" is a vision of the American spirit, a vision of Whitman himself. It is his cry for democracy, giving each of us a voice through his poetry. Each of us has a voice and desires, and this is Whitman's representation of our voices, the voice of America. America, the great melting pot, was founded for freedom and democracy, and this poem is his way of re-instilling these lost American ideals. In this passage from "Song of Myself" Whitman speaks through his fellow man and speaks for his fellow man when his voice is not socially acceptable to be heard.
...macy and public response are at odds here. In fact, the poem ends with a note of sad and quiet desperation, a true confession of love: "But I with mournful tread, / Walk the deck my Captain lies, / Fallen cold and dead" (Terrinoni).
...orates the death of the Captain, Tennyson discusses crossing into the realm of the afterlife with a stoic calmness, which ultimately leads a solitary death. However, both poets seem to realize their own mortality and that death is an indestructible force. While Tennyson’s everyday narrator treats “crossing the bar” as another symbolic stage of the human existence, the beloved Captain is ironically unable to defeat it despite what horrors he may have overcome at sea. Death, then, transcends the social divide; no one, from the common man of Tennyson’s poem to a brave, revered Captain, who has survived the perils at sea, can conquer it.
Additionally, “O’ Captain, My Captain” is a famous poem written by Walt Whitman. However, instead of being about major life decisions, “O’ Captain, My Captain” is about the Civil War and the death of Abraham Lincoln. In the first line, Walt Whitman writes, “our fearful trip is done”. That
In Walt Whitman’s, “One Song, America, Before I Go”, the soldier who is speaking acknowledges the danger in the war he is to fight. The soldier is content with facing the dangers though, bearing the characteristics of a patriot, and believing that his sacrifice will ensure a better America for future generations. With the soldiers