O Captain! My Captain!

I had heard him say this out loud to me every time I asked him to tell me a poem. Back then, a child, I understood little what it meant. The one thing I never forget was his diction and intonation, as he narrated this with great emotion, stressing on 'O Captain! My Captain!'

I wondered over the years as to what could have made an ailing man of 75 narrate something like this to his grandchild. There were pastorals, green meadows, dandelions and daffodils but for me, it was always, 'O Captain! My Captain!'

He would be 89 today. 

Here's to you grand-père, for always being the angel to your wildly capricious grand-child!

-

O Captain! My Captain!
Walt Whitman 
     
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. 

-

As I learnt, much later, (Wiki Link)

Walt Whitman wrote the poem after Abraham Lincoln's assassination. Repeated metaphorical reference is made to this issue throughout the verse. The "ship" spoken of is intended to represent the United States of America, while its "fearful trip" recalls the troubles of the American Civil War. The titular "Captain" is Lincoln himself. With a conventional meter and rhyme scheme that is unusual for Whitman, it was the only poem anthologized during Whitman's lifetime. Image source here.