"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;O 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."
I believe that this poem has to do with death. A crew and their captain had just returned from a fearsome and trying voyage at sea successfully. The narrator is overjoyed to finally be home, and calls out to the captain. But alas, the captain has perished. He's dead. There's traces of blood, and his body is cold. Because the poem says "fallen", I feel as if the captain may have been murdered or had committed suicide. Of course, with poetry, it could also mean that he had lost himself on the journey and was lifeless in the terms of his personality. Although the crowd and the narrator were "exulting", and absolutely joyous with their return, there is a sense of sorrow because the captain was no longer with them.
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;O 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."
I believe that this poem has to do with death. A crew and their captain had just returned from a fearsome and trying voyage at sea successfully. The narrator is overjoyed to finally be home, and calls out to the captain. But alas, the captain has perished. He's dead. There's traces of blood, and his body is cold. Because the poem says "fallen", I feel as if the captain may have been murdered or had committed suicide. Of course, with poetry, it could also mean that he had lost himself on the journey and was lifeless in the terms of his personality. Although the crowd and the narrator were "exulting", and absolutely joyous with their return, there is a sense of sorrow because the captain was no longer with them.
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