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!" Walt Whitman The keel is the part of a ship that provides stability. What is Whitman referring to with the phrase “the steady keel”? Lincoln’s re-election as president the president’s death the horrific injuries the soldiers suffered during the war the idea of freedom that the United States stands for
