![]() What is absent is the cause of his death, but the readers would fill in that stylistic blank for themselves: with Lincoln assassinated, the public gasped at the tragic irony that he had perished at the very moment of his triumph. It was conventional to refer to the Union as a ship- the “ship of state”-and Lincoln as a captain would also require no explanation. It jogs along nicely with its short end-rhymes (done/won, red/dead), setting up a rhythm between the momentum of the ship coming into port and the captain lying (inexplicably) dead. ![]() ![]() “O Captain, My Captain” was rooted in the conventional vocabulary and form of mid-nineteenth-century Anglo-American poetry. While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring Īnd it continues in a similar vein through the last stanza, which begins, “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 poem became a huge hit for Whitman, and he would usually recite it at the conclusion of his public lecture “The Death of Lincoln.” So popular was the poem that Whitman grew weary of it, not just because of repetition but also probably because he felt limited by the style in which it was written. The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting, The ship has weather’d every rack, the prize we sought is won, One, “O Captain, My Captain,” is a fine piece of Victorian sentimentality, much anthologized and much recited on patriotic occasions: O Captain! my Captain! our fearful trip is done, Walt Whitman wrote two memorial poems about the death of Abraham Lincoln. Pearsall / Albumen silver print, 1872 | National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution gift of Mr. Listen, you hear it? - Carpe - hear it? - Carpe, carpe diem, seize the day boys, make your lives extraordinary.Walt Whitman / by G. But if you listen real close, you can hear them whisper their legacy to you. They believe they’re destined for great things … just like you …. Here’s Robin Williams’ speech that Louis made reference to: SUITS MADE ME CRY BEFORE THE OPENING CREDITS WHATTTTTTĪnyway. ![]() So, really, seeing Louis and Mike do the lines made me cry. It is forever etched into my brain and my heart. It’s a very awesome movie, and has tons of inspiring lines and memorable scenes. And at the end of the movie, the students stand on a desk and call him, “O Captain, my Captain” as he leaves the classroom. Later into the semester he stands on a desk to teach them about new perspective. On his first day he tells his students that they may call him “O Captain, my Captain”, as in the Walt Whitman poem, and takes his students out of of the classroom to deliver a speech about carpe diem. You know, the kind that the students think weird at first but quickly learn to love the one the strict headmaster hates for being unorthodox? That’s the one. In Dead Poets Society(1989), Robin Williams plays an inspiring English teacher newly employed at an elite, traditional school. If you just listen, you can hear them whisper their legacy to you. They believed they were destined for great things, just like you. There have been other associates before you. Louis: So I would like to leave you with the immortal sentiment of Robin Williams.
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