O Captain My Captain

443 Words2 Pages
O Captain! My Captain! Walt Whitman’s poem “O Captain! My Captain!” was a poem written in order to honor the 16th president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln whom was assassinated in 1865. Whitman was very fond of Abraham Lincoln and was saddened by his death. Lincoln is represented by “the captain” and the United States of America is the ship. Whitman uses a series of rhetorical devices such as diction, tone, figurative language, and sensory detail, in order to reveal his emotions towards Abraham Lincoln. At the inception of the poem the tone was joyous, victorious, and cheerful on their way back from their voyage, which was the civil war with their victorious captain (Abraham Lincoln). “The ship has weather’d every rack, the prize we sought is won;” “While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring” this statement shows the peoples happiness that the war is over and their captain is back and victorious. The mood quickly changes when their captain drops dead from victorious and joyful to grief, sad and sorrow to the captain’s death. “But O heart! Heart! Heart! , O the bleeding drops of red, where on the deck my Captain lays, Fallen cold and dead.” Whitman continues expressing Abraham Lincoln’s death through the use of figurative language. For example our loyal, heroic, leader Abraham Lincoln represents the captain and or Country America represents the ship. The “fearful trip” is the civil war and the way the captain drops full of blood is Abraham Lincoln’s death. Diction is also used to express the theme of the poem and the feeling of the people in the loss of their great leader. Words such as “the prize we sought is won”, “for you the flag is flung”, “for you the bugle trills”; “For you bouquets and ribbon’d wreaths” this shows the peoples loyalty and love for their president. Lastly, Whitman uses sensory throughout the poem in
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