Oh+Captain!

I liked this poem. We actually read this poem back in English class Freshman year. I liked it back then too. This poem was very different from all of the other Walt Whitman poems we have read so far in class. This one actually had a rythmic pattern to it and was very quick. I got done reading it in about a minute or so. The thing i liked most about the poem was its rythm. It is so unlike Whtiman to actually write a poem with rythm. The beat is pretty good too. I think thats why I like it so much, just because it's different from all the reast of the poems. I really thought that he was making a point or a statement when he put "Fallen cold and dead" after every stanza of the poem. It's as if he was trying to get the point across that this captain was very important to the writer. All in all, I liked this poem a lot. There actually hasn't been too many poems of Whitman's that I haven't liked so far. 1200623562

I agree with ewe, I liked this poem. It was very different from Whitman's usual style of writing. what I like most about it however, is that it is the perfect metaphor for Lincoln's assasination. The Civil War had just ended, but Lincoln died, and in the poem, a ship is pulling into dock after a battle or a long voyage, but the captain is dead. Everybody mourned for the captain in the same way that everybody mourned for Lincoln. In both history and the poem, a happy thing has been ruined by something really sad. It is just horrible when something like that happens. Everyone wants to celebrate, but they have to mourn at the same time. This is the perfect example of how topsy-turvy the world is. Overall, I liked this poem. It was a different type of poetry than we have come to expect from Whitman. 1200705514

I also agree with eww. This poem was very different compared to the same way Whitman usually wrote his work. I found this poem kind of easy to read and I think it took me a short amount of time to read it as well, compared to the other writings Whitman has done. When Whitman put "Fallen cold and dead" after every stanza, I wasn't really sure what he may have been talking about but I did some thinking and I've come to realize that perhaps the qoute is in reference to Lincold and his death. Or, like ewe said, Whitman could've just simply showed the importance of the captain throughout the poem. And I'm guessing that the captain was probably Lincoln? I'm not really sure, but I'm assuming that they have similarties in some sort of way. I don't really like Whitman's poems that much, but I feel as if this was one was the most understanding one. 1201114075

In class, we read "When Lilacs in the Dooryyard Bloom'd" and "O' Captin, My Captin". These poems were very similair but also very different at the same time. In "When Lilacs in the Dooryard Bloom'd", the narrator talks to an audience. He uses words such as we and our, referring to the communities feeling for Abe Lincoln. In "O' Captin, My Captin" Whitman uses a singular speech. It's as though he wrote both of the poems for the world, but "When Lilacs in the Dooryard Bloom'd" were his personal feelings about the matter and "O' Captin, My Captin" was a poem written by the community. I think this is pretty cool because he writes two different poems about the same subject and they turn out to be different. Most of Whitman's writting wasn't on topics such as this, so i think people really enjoyed to have read this.1201126558ape2

I agree with ewe. In 8th grade my class and I had to memorize this poem for social studies, so it has stuck with me for a long time. This poem has much more rhythm to it, which i actually prefer more. I really like short poems with some sort of rhyming, and thats exactly what this poem was. This is probably my favorite poem by Walt Whitman, I don't think people these days realize how hurt the country was over President Lincoln's death, he was such a inspiring leader, and great person in general. I think in O capitian my Capitian Whitman does an exceptional job of presenting how hurt the entire world was over President Lincoln's death, he really puts the emphasis with the statement "fallen cold and dead". 1201128341

Oh Captain my Captain is certainly different than the many other works by Walt Whitman. Even though Walt Whitman is primarily occupied with writing about America he always seems to be more determined to make us think differently about the working class and I think that this poem was odd because he seemed to stray from his usual style and focus on a major tragedy with Mr. Abraham Lincoln. It is more than apparently obvious that Walt Whitman is totally one hundred percent behind America and all it's greatness but here for the first time I feel as if he is trying to connect with me on more of a personal level. Maybe Walt wasn't that successful after all when the one poem he wishes he never wrote ended up being his most prominent. The poem aside is very nice and well put together. Once i had a chance to think about it it is really clear that he love Abraham Lincoln and is now mourning that the journey is complete but without the leader who was once "captain". 1201219348