O Captain! My Captain!

by Walt Whitman

                                                                           I.

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,
                           Fallen cold and dead.
                                                                           II.

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

                                                                           III.

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.

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