DLTK's Poems
O Captain! My Captain!

by Walt Whitman

O 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 O heart! heart! heart!
                O the bleeding drops of red,
                    Where on the deck my Captain lies,
                            Fallen cold and dead.

O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells;
Rise up--for you the flag is flung--for you the bugle trills; 10
For you 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, O shores, and ring, O bells!
                But I, with mournful tread,
                    Walk the deck my Captain lies,
                        Fallen cold and dead.