Question

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;
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.

In one paragraph of at least three to five sentences, analyze the imagery in the stanza in bold. Identify the mood the author intended to create with this imagery, as well as the connotations used in the diction. Use proper spelling and grammar.

(first stanza is bold)

Answer 1

Whitman uses visual, auditory, and tactile imagery in the poem's first stanza. When he says "The ship has weather'd every rack", he conveys the feeling of exhaustion. (The ship is, of course, an allegory of America, whereas the Captain stands for President Lincoln, who was just assassinated.) "The bells I hear" is an auditory expression, which supports the people's exaltation, but also resembles the sound of death bells which mourn the Captain's death. The vessel is "grim and daring", grim because the trip had been extremely hard, but the cause was daring. "The bleeding drops of red" is a striking image of the tragedy of Lincoln's death. The blood was shed, so it was not a natural death. The Captain is "cold", which is an example of tactile imagery.

As a whole, this stanza juxtaposes two kinds of mood: the exaltation about the Captain's glorious deeds, as well as pathos and tragedy because of his death. The imagery makes the poem all the more exciting, as it lets us see, hear, and feel the speaker's state of mind - which is a fusion of personal and collective feeling toward America's journey to freedom and Lincoln's pivotal role in it.