Walt+Whitman,+O+Captain+My+Captain

Reflection: The poem **O Captain My Captain** is truly a metaphor that carries a bigger meaning than just a captain **any** a trip. O Captain My Captain tells the victory of Abraham Lincoln and how Walt Whitman mourned his death. The fearful trip is Abraham Lincoln’s struggle to end slavery. He won the battle but died before he could see the victory in effect. The man telling the stor**y a**s we have figured ou**t h**appens to be the poet himself. Walt Whitman truly admired Abraham Lincoln and his struggle and he mourned his death. Everyone besides the man in the poem **are** in happy spirits celebrating the victory, united as one. Besides the whole poem being a metaphor it includes many other poetic devices such as:

Anaphora- repetition of the word Captain Refrain- repetition of the line “Fallen cold and dead” End-stopped lines- all lines end with punctuation Apostrophe- “Oh Captain My Captain” Elegy- Walt Whitman is mourning the death of Abraham Lincoln

Summary: O Captain My Captain tells about a trip won by a group but with great consequence. With the victory came the death of their Captain. The ship is returning home and there is a huge procession gathered there to greet them. On the ship a man is grieving the death of his Captain. He pleads for him to wake up and see the throng that has come from all over because of what the Captain accomplished. In the background bells are ringing, music is playing, and flags are raised in jubilation. The man is holding his dead Captain in his arm pleading for him to get up. The Captain is frozen cold and dead. Correlation: I think that the assassination of Abraham Lincoln had the more impact than the death of any other President before and during his time. Since Abraham Lincoln’s time I believe that the next president death that had as much impact as Lincoln’s has to be the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. I put the assassinations of Lincoln and Kennedy on the same level. Lincoln and Kennedy both fought for controversial topics during their time and they were determined to fight for them. Lincoln fought for the end of slavery. Although it divided the country at the time his goal was accomplished. Kennedy on the other hand did not approve of the racism during the time and he fought against it. Both were great leaders who were achieving great things before their life was cut short by people who opposed what they were trying to do. Neither lived long enough to see the victory and how far we had come after their death. Although there is still racism in our t**ime it is d**rastically different from what it was in the 60’s. Both presidents were also killed at public places. Kennedy was killed in a parade while Lincoln was shot in the balcony of a movie theatre. It was a very mournful time after each of their deaths and each has been made very famous. Everything in Lincoln’s and Kennedy’s lives have been very similar from their presidencies to their deaths.