O Captain my captain poem Tnpsc

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; -4

But O heart! heart! heart!
O the bleeding drops o red!
Where on the deck my Captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead. -8

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 ribbon’d wreaths – for you the shores crowding,
For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning; – 12

Here, Captain! dear father!
This arm beneath your head!
It is some dream that on the deck
You’ve fallen cold and dead. -16

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; – 20

Exult, O shores! and ring, O bells!
But I, with mournful tread,
Walk the deck my Captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead. -24

Figures of Speech

Identify the figure of speech from lines 4 and 10?

Ans: Personification, ( While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring; -4 and Rise up – for you the flag is flung – for you the bugle trills, – 10).

Identify the figure of speech from Line 1 and Line 2?

Ans: Metaphor, ( O Captain! My Captain! Our fearful trip is done, / The ship has weather’d every rack, the prize we sought is won, )

Identify the figure of speech from line 21?

Ans: Apostrophe, Exult, O shores! and ring, O bells!.

Explanation of Poem

Line 1 and 2

O Captain! My Captain! Our fearful trip is done,
The ship has weather’d every rack, the prize we sought is won,

From the above lines, answer the questions

a.Who is referred here as ‘Captain‘ from the above lines?

Answer: Captain, referred here is Abraham Lincoln, who was the President of US.

b. From the above lines, ‘Ship‘ Symbolize?

Answer: From the above lines, the ‘Ship’, symbolizes America. Its captain is Abraham Lincoln.

c. ‘Fear Trip‘ Means from above lines?

Answer: American Civil War. The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 9, 1865) (also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States fought between the Union (states that remained loyal to the federal union, or “the North”) and the Confederacy (states that voted to secede, or “the South”). (Wikipedia).

d. Explain the line ‘The ship has weathered‘

Answer: This line explains America has successfully come out of civil war.

Line 3 and 4

The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,
While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring;

Questions from the above lines:

a. ” the people all exulting“, Why?

Ans: Exult means “feel or show triumphant elation or jubilation“. They are exulting because of the victory in the civil war.

b. “the vessel grim and daring“, Explain?

Ans: The Vessel is grim because the Vessel carries the dead body of its captain(Abraham Lincoln). ‘Darling‘, here means to say, America is not broken due to grief.

Line 5 and 6

But O heart! heart! heart!
O the bleeding drops o red!

a. Explain the above line?

Answer: The poet describes the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. He expresses his grief over death of the captain. The poet loves him so much as he put ‘heart’ three times. 

The poet also sees the  blood flowing from out his body. His captain is lying on the uppermost part of the ship and his body is lifeless.

Line 7 and 8

Where on the deck my Captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead

Question from above lines:

a. What happened to the Captain?
The Captain was assasinated. He lies cold and dead.

Line 9 and 10

O Captain! My Captain! Rise up and hear the bells;
Rise up – for you the flag is flung – for you the bugle trills,

a. What do bells means from the above lines and why do the bells ring?

Answer: The bells signify the victory in the civil wars. Also bells rang to signify the presidents death.

b. "flag is flung", Explain?
Answer: The flag is flung to celebrate the victory in the civil war.

c. "for you the bugle trills", Explain?
Answer: A bugle trill is a short burst of notes from a bugle horn, often meant to signify military victory. Here it is used to signify the Captains death/ Presidents death.

Line 11 and 12

For you bouquets and ribbon’d wreaths – for you the shores crowding,
For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning; – 12

a. For you bouquets and ribbon’d wreaths – for you the shores crowding, Explain?

Answer: The bouquets and ribbon’d wreaths were the things brought by the crowd to receive their beloved president who is dead. 

b. For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning; - Explain?

Answer: The faces of the people were eager because, this is their last time they are goint see the face of their beloved captain.

Lines 13 and 14

Here, Captain! dear father!
This arm beneath your head!

a. Explain the above line?

Answer: The president gives no response to the poet’s request and the poet becomes suspicious. After knowing, that the President is dead, the Poet addresses him as his dear father and puts his own arm beneath the head of the president.

Line 15 and 16

It is some dream that on the deck
You’ve fallen cold and dead.

a. Explain the above lines?

The poet does not believe that the President is dead. He thinks it is some dream that he lies on the deck of the ship, cold and dead.

Here ‘You’, refers to the President.

Line 17 and 18

My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still,
My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor will;

a. Explain the above line?

The poet tries to communicate with the Captain but the Captain is not responding. The poet finds that the captain’s lips are still and turned into pale color. This signifies that the captain is lifeless.

From the previous line, we can understand, that the poet put his hand beneath the captain’s head. And Say, that his father (captain) does not feel his hand, which is lying underneath his head.

Also, the poet does not feel the pulse of the Captain.

Line 19 and 20

The ship is anchor’d safe and sound, its voyage closed and done,
From fearful trip the victor ship comes in with object won; 

a. Explain above lines?
Answer: The poet mean "Voyage and fearful trip" as Civil War. 

"Object Won" means Victory in War. The war against the slavery. Here mean Object means Objective, the Objective of emancipation of slavery.

Line 21 and 24

Exult, O shores! and ring, O bells!
But I, with mournful tread,
Walk the deck my Captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead.

a. Explain above lines?
Answers: The poet want to rejoice because of the victory in the war. The bells are rang to conmenrate the victory.

The poet want the people to celebrate the victory with rejoic, eventhough he was overwhelmed with grief.

About the Poem and Poet

O Captain! My Captain! is an extended metaphor poem. It is written by Walt Whitman in 1865. The poem is about the death of Abraham Lincoln, who was assassinated during the end of the American civil war.

Walt Whitman (Walter Whitman) was an American Poet, and journalist. His other works are:

• Franklin Evans (1842),
• The Half-Breed; A Tale of the Western Frontier (1846),
• Life and Adventures of Jack Engle (serialized in 1852),
• Leaves of Grass (1855, the first of seven editions through 1891),
• Manly Health and Training (1858), Drum-Taps (1865),
• Democratic Vistas (1871),
• Memoranda During the War (1876),
• Specimen Days (1882)