Okay so I must admit that in the past this poem has not been a favorite. The few times I was assigned to read it I would lets be nice and say that I "skimmed."
Well, a couple of days ago I was browsing through a volume of poems and came across this one and decided to read it.
Umm it brought tears to my eyes!
So now I have dedicated myself to memorize it :)
Anyways here is a new favorite of mine.
O Captain! My Captain!
O
Captain! my Captain! our fearful trip is done;
The ship has
weathered 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 O
heart! heart! heart!
O the
bleeding drops of red,
Where
on the deck my Captain lies,
O
Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells;
Rise up—for you
the flag is flung—for you the bugle trills;
For you bouquets and
ribboned 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
anchored safe and sound, its voyage closed and done;
From fearful
trip, the victor ship, comes in with object won;
Exult,
O shores, and ring, O bells!
But
I, with mournful tread,
Walk
the deck my Captain lies,
-Walt
Whitman-