 | The Romance of the Civil War |  |
88. 0 Captain! My Captain!
By WALT WHITMAN (1865)
0 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 0 heart! heart! heart!
0 the bleeding drops of red,
Where on the deck my Captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead.
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,
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While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim
and daring;
But 0 heart! heart! heart!
0 the bleeding drops of red,
Where on the deck my Captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead.
0 Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells;
Rise up-for you the flag is flung-for you the
bugle trills,
For you the bouquets and ribbon'd wreaths—for
you the shores a-crowding,
For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager
faces turning;
Here Captain! dear father!
This arm beneath your head!
It is some dream that on the deck
You've fallen cold and dead.
Rise up-for you the flag is flung-for you the
bugle trills,
For you the bouquets and ribbon'd wreaths—for
you the shores a-crowding,
For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager
faces turning;
Here 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 of shores, and ring 0 bells!
But I with mournful tread,
Walk the deck my Captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead.
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 of shores, and ring 0 bells!
But I with mournful tread,
Walk the deck my Captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead.
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| The Romance of the Civil War | |