O Captain! My Captain!

Walt Whitman

Walt Whitman

American essayist, poetTranscendentalist movementRumored to have had dream night before Lincoln’s assassination

O Captain! My Captain!

Elegy to Lincoln after assassinationLincoln=CaptainPoem=extended metaphorWritten in 1865--relation to end of Civil War?

As You Read:

Keep in mind the extended metaphor of the poem. Try to determine what the following specific metaphors represent:

Fearful tripShip (hint: think big picture…what is the “vessel” that is moving forward?)PrizePortShores a-crowdingObject won

Determine SOAPSTone for the poem