Perspectives

To better understand the poem “O Captain! My Captain!” by Walt Whitman, it is important to reflect on a few points and questions related to Whitman’s style, the themes of the poem, the literary period and the relevance the poem might have today.

Whitman's style

Walt Whitman was known to rarely compose poems that rhyme. Yet, “O Captain! My Captain!” does rhyme. Why do you think the author chose to write the poem differently, compared to his other works? Was it because the death of Lincoln was such an extraordinary event so that Whitman wanted to make it more catchy or solemn?

A recurrent figure of speech in Whitman’s works is the apostrophe, addressing people/objects that cannot answer back. Two examples are ‘Pioneers! O Pioneers!” and “A Noisele...