O Captain Three Themes in \"O Captain!

O Captain

Three Themes in "O Captain! My Captain!"

Walt Whitman wrote "O Captain! My Captain!" In 1865 and it serves as an elegy to the President Lincoln, who had just been assassinated. As a patriotic American and the "poet of America" (as he called himself), Whitman was duty-bound to mourn the loss of the 16th U.S. president in verse. That he did so in a way completely opposite from his free verse "Song of Myself" -- the poem dedicated to himself and the spirit of freedom and license -- is telling. Lincoln, the "captain" of America during the critical time of the Civil War, represented order, structure and unity. These elements serve as the foundation of Whitman's "O Captain!" which deals with three themes in its three stanzas: a mission, fatherhood, and death. This paper will analyze these themes and show how they are brought about.

The theme of the mission is apparent in the first stanza: "The ship has weather'd every rack, the prize we sought is won" (2). Whitman does not elaborate on the mission -- the "fearful trip" (1), but what is clear is that it is over: it has been accomplished, the bells are ringing, and the people at the port are in exultation. However, there has been a price. The tone suddenly turns from joyous and celebratory to grim and tragic: the "captain" that Whitman addresses is "fallen cold and dead" (8). Here, the theme of death is announced -- and it becomes the refrain of the poem, a repetition of the tragedy that has accompanied the successful steering of the ship.

The ship, of course, refers to the ship of state -- steered in the office of the President. Without some knowledge of the author of the poem and the historical context in which it is situated, this information would not be known, for the poem itself makes no direct reference to Lincoln or the "prize" which he sought -- namely, the preservation of the Union and the abolishment of slavery. But Whitman's background allows us to realize just who the "captain" refers to -- a Father of the Nation, Abraham Lincoln.

The theme of Fatherhood is picked up in the second stanza, as Whitman, realizing that his "captain" is dead, calls upon his soul to "rise up and hear the bells" (9). "Here Captain! dear father!" he calls (13), giving the leader of the Union an affectionate term of address, one that is intimate and familial. Whitman balances the diction of the officer (referring to his captain) with the diction of the son (referring to his father), thus equating Lincoln to both a general and a sire. In this respect, the "Captain" takes on a majestic aspect -- a kind of king who has looked after his subjects, his officers as his own sons. Yet, Fatherhood does not die with the "captain," for Whitman calls out still: "Rise up -- for you the flag is flung -- for you the bugle trills" (10). While these lines may seem to be addressed to the dead captain, one might argue that they are also addressed to the citizens of America too -- a nation now turned inward, viewing itself as it is mortally wounded (both from internal strife -- the Civil War -- and from having its head cut off).

At the same time, it is uncertain whether the fathers of the nation can really "rise up" and fill the shoes of the captain. For this reason, Whitman ends the second stanza with a hint of denial. He does not want to believe that his "captain" has died: "It is some dream that on the deck, / You've fallen cold and dead" (15-16). Who could possibly take the reins now, he seems to ask.

The answer to the question serves as the basis of the third stanza, which emphasizes the theme of death. No one, is the answer: death has really struck. "My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still; / My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor will" (17-18). Whitman acknowledges the death; and he also acknowledges that the father figure has safely brought the nation back to port, has safely restored all bonds -- but now there is a special duty that must be performed: a duty of vigilance. Even though the mission is accomplished, the father is exalted, and hope is alive ("Exult, O shores, and ring, O bells!") (21), Whitman must "with mournful tread / Walk the deck my Captain lies" (22-23) as though if no one watched and kept memorial over where the President had fallen, history would be doomed to repeat itself, just as the refrain repeats itself at the end of every stanza.