Speaker and characters

The poem “O Captain! My Captain!” by Walt Whitman includes two important characters, the speaker and the captain. Additionally, the speaker mentions the “people all exulting” (l. 3) who are waiting for the captain to come ashore. These people can be interpreted as the American nation.

The speaker

The speaker, or lyrical I, of the poem seems to be a sailor, someone who has been travelling on the board of the same ship as the captain. This speaker is highly connected with the captain. He cherishes and praises him, addressing him with respect.

What is more, we see a personal connection between the speaker and the captain, suggested by the use of the possessive “my captain” (l. 1) and the word “father” (l. 13). This shows that the captain is more than the commander of a ship or...