United States and Whitman Essay

Submitted By ossoccer02
Words: 588
Pages: 3
Open Document
The Use of Symbols in “O Captain! My Captain!”
Authors apply numerous literary devices to their works because they hope these devices will engage their reader as well as convey an underlying message. The use of symbolism as a literary device is commonly used in literature. According to The Bedford Glossary of Critical and Literary Terms, a symbol is an entity that can stand by itself in a story, but is often meant to represent a larger and more abstract idea, attitude or practice (Murfin and Ray 504). In Walt
Whitman’s elegiac poem, “O Captain! My Captain!,” Whitman utilizes symbolism in order to transmit his underlying message regarding President Lincoln as the captain of the United States.
Whitman’s “O Captain! My Captain!” was published in November 1865, following the end of the Civil War and the assassination of President Lincoln (“O Captain!”). Once the publication date is known, a reader may more quickly realize that many of Whitman’s lines are meant to symbolize post- Civil War United States. In the first line of the poem, the reader is reintroduced to the title of the poem, “O Captain! My Captain!” (Whitman). When alone the word captain can refer to the leader or head supervisor of a ship, but in the text of the poem captain actually symbolizes President Lincoln as the leader of the United States. Lincoln and the
Union had just prevailed over the Confederate Army in the deadly Civil War; Whitman indicates the Union victory in the line “our fearful trip is done, The ship has weather’d every rack” (Whitman). Also in this line, Whitman uses “ship” as a symbol for the United States
(Whitman). Further in the poem Whitman states that “the prize we sought is won” which is symbolic for the ending of slavery and the unification of the North and South (Whitman).
In the last somber stanza of the poem, the grief stricken Whitman writes, “My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still” (Whitman). Whitman in the second stanza hoped this

was a “dream,” but now he realizes that the “Captain” has died (Whitman). The pale and still lips clearly symbolize Lincoln’s death in this extended metaphor. Also, the idea that the “Captain does not answer” symbolizes that the country cries out to Lincoln with joy and jubilation, but
Lincoln
Show More

Related Documents: United States and Whitman Essay

American History: America Then Vs. America Now

body shape. In the eighteen sixties, Walt Whitman noticed these prejudices and unlawful actions happening in America and wrote about it in his poem “I Sit and Look Out.” These hostilities he was detecting and writing about are still ever present in today’s society. Whitman’s poem of abuse, prisoners, minorities, and the poor directly relate to American society in the present world. Whitman’s poem states “I see the wife misused by her husband” (Whitman, 4) and that is ever…

Words 885 - Pages 4

An Analysis Of Walt Whitman's I Hear America Singing

dream of opportunity and passion. The United States of America, was founded on the idea of being a land of liberty, which is defined as “The state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions imposed…

Words 924 - Pages 4

Walt Whitman Essay

Leaves of grass is a poetry collection that Walt Whitman spent his whole life writing. Whitman came to feel that the strength of the republic lay not in its leaders but in its hardworking, patriotic citizens. Always carrying a little notebook, he observed those citizens, jotting impressions of everyday scenes. From those pieces he created twelve unnamed poems, which he self-published in 1855 under the title Leaves of Grass. This book is notable for its discussion of delight in sensual pleasures during…

Words 806 - Pages 4

Walt Whitman Research Paper

between a number of disjointed states and the democratic government of the United States had started to fracture through the smoke of rifled muskets and scattered artillery. The Southern states were fighting to secede from the North and a bloody, four-year war had begun. This war was to define the course of American history and nearly every aspect of the American cultural landscape was affected, including the poetry of a working writer in Brooklyn, New York. Walt Whitman was a poetic voice for American…

Words 980 - Pages 4

whitman and dickenson's poem response Essay

Adams Literature2 Summer2 07/11/2012 Whitman and Dickinson In “O Captain! My Captain!” uses the ship, the voyage at sea, and the Captain, within the poem to describe the mood of the United States in the immediate aftermath of the Civil War. The “fearful” voyage at sea, then, is an appropriate metaphor for the arduous Civil War, which has finally ended, but ironically, the Captain of the ship, Abraham Lincoln, has fallen dead (Line 2). Whitman uses extensive imagery to describe the North…

Words 551 - Pages 3

O Captain My Captain Analysis

like Walt Whitman, demonstrates how ashes exchange themselves for beauty. In “O Captain! My Captain!,” Walt Whitman elucidates that one fighting for a noble cause must endure great sacrifice in order to reign victorious. Whitman’s deep respect for Abraham Lincoln surpassed all understanding. He referred to Lincoln as his “captain” multiple times throughout the poem, indicating Whitman’s deep admiration for him (Whitman 1). Lincoln also acted as a source of guidance and comfort for Whitman—both strongly…

Words 675 - Pages 3

Comparitive Essay

These two great poets have done something similar but with a twist ending. Their names are Walt Whitman and Richard Blanco. Both Whitman and Blanco recognize the adversity and unity of the people who contribute to the vitality of America. In Stanza 6 Whitman says " I hear America singing, the varied carols I hear." In my perspective, what Whitman is trying to say is that everybody in America is united together in different variety of groups. He says this because he uses the word "carols" which usually…

Words 888 - Pages 4

Trans Atlantic Slave Trade Research Paper

since evaporated, but that is not due to anything we have done in current times, but rather the courage of those of the past. Among the works of many American authors, the literary works of Oladuah Equiano, Fredrick Douglass, Harriet Jacobs, and Walt Whitman assisted in revolutionizing a path to freedom for enslaved people in America. The start of slavery in America came from the events of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. Starting in the early 1500s, the Trans-American Slave Trade held the transportation…

Words 1076 - Pages 5

Omar Mateen: The Virginia Tech Massacre

Omar Mateen was a 29 year security guard.Omar arravide in a white van He killed 49 people and wounded 58 others.He was shot and killed by Orla. In a 9-1-1 call shortly after the shooting began, Mateen swore allegiance to the leader of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, and said the shooting was "triggered" by the U.S. killing of Abu Waheeb in Iraq the previous month. The Virginia Tech massacre occurred in April 16 2007. Cho was seen near the…

Words 636 - Pages 3

History Of Territorial Expansion In America

members of Democratic party- used this term to describe their program of territorial expansion and industrial growth Youngest president= James K. Polk Literary world- it influenced the two greatest writers America has produced: Walt Whitman & Herman Melville Walt Whitman and Herman Melville- greatest authors in America Moby Dick- Herman Melville Manifest Destiny- a doctrine in support of the territorial expansion based on the belief that the US should expand to encompass all of North America…

Words 384 - Pages 2