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; 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;
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; 20
Exult, O shores, and ring, O bells!
But I, with mournful tread,
Walk the deck my Captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead.
Walt Whitman
After reading this poem I found that the speaker is expressing his distress towards the tragedies that took place on the ship. The tone of this poem goes from an ecstatic state to a mournful state. It starts out joyful in the beginning, as they seem to have just won a battle or a war. This tone is demonstrated by using lots of positive punctuation and stating “the prize we sought is won!”. But as soon as the Captain dies, the poem immediately changes and becomes sorrowful and the speaker begins to wish that the Captain were still alive.
ReplyDeleteI think that the repetition of "heart" in line five emphasizes the speaker’s grief at the death of his captain. Also, the repetition of "Fallen cold and dead" at the end of each stanza emphasizes his deep loss of the captain. This repetition of agonizing pain suggests the great admiration the speaker had for the Captain and the speaker’s inability to be happy about the victory of war.
Whitman also uses apostrophes such as, "O Captain! My Captain!” at the start of the first two stanzas and "Exult O shores, and ring O bells!" in the third stanza to suggest the excitement he has for the victory of war, but then this triumph is contrasted with the speaker’s “mournful tread”, and the realization that the Captain is dead and the speaker, therefore, is unable to fully celebrate the accomplishment.
Ginny F.
I agree, Ginny, that the poem begins with an exciting beginning and transitions into a solemn state. However in re-reading the poem I also discovered the first stanza, although it appears ecstatic, there are hints of sorrow in there. Describing the trip as having been "fearful," the port is "near" meaning they have yet to reach it, "the vessel grim and daring" suggesting it is not all joyful. Then this is quickly contrasted with the repetition of heart. Yes this repetition is a way to emphasize the speaker's grief, but in addition, it is a way of demonstrating the shock and despair associated with the death of their captain. The individual line acts as a harsh transition into the describing how the captain is dead.
ReplyDeleteAlso Ginny your I feel your initial idea that "the speaker is expressing his distress towards the tragedies that took place on the ship" could be further explained in that I believe the captain is used to represent all those that died on the journey to victory as well as the other hardships the sailors went through. The captain is usually a representative for the whole ship, so the way in which the author describes how "cold" and "pale" and "dead" the captain was can be applied to the others on the ship that died. The author is hence coming to the realization that this return to home is bittersweet because although they came back victorious, they had to sacrifice lives of loved-ones on the way to doing so.
I think you're onto something with the poem being about all people who have died to gain victory, not just the captain that the poem is (on the surface) about. In fact, the only other thing the Captain is called is 'father.' To call some one by such a close term, it's often inferred that the speaker is very close to them- that they're like family. This supports what you said on how loved-ones are sacrificed- not just anybody. Perhaps it's this loss that can show that victory is bittersweet. Yes, there is victory and "people all exulting" in joy but the price of this is our dearest ones in our arms. Even in victory, we can lose.
ReplyDeleteAlso some food for thought, the Captain never has a formal name, he's just left as 'my Captain.' This is very open and the reader can put any fallen hero in his place. This also supports your idea that the poem isn't just about one specific person.
-Jenny C
*The term 'Captain' becomes a symbol is what I meant in the last part.
ReplyDelete-Jenny C
I would agree with everyone that talked about how the tone changed as soon as the narrator said the captain was dead. Also i'd agree with Alina about how the poem goes from ecstatic to mourning. This idea definitly makes me think along the lines of what Jenny wrote, that maybe he's describing a warship that won a battle but came at heavy losses and therefore as glorious as the victory was, to those on board that new those passed it is bittersweet. I feel that also this poem notices how people can easily forget about those that died in service, as everyone on the shore is celebrating waiting for the boat. To them a victory is a victory and a defeat is a defeat, but to the men on board these battles mean the death of their friends and possibly themselves. I feel this sorrow is increased by the use of "father" as these men that stay on a ship together for months start to become as close as family. Therefore I feel this poem is written to compare the different mindsets of those that are naive towards war and those that understand the costs of war.
ReplyDelete-Chris Watson