This essay is about the close reading of the poem. Oh captain my captain.

Walt Whitman's poem, "Oh Captain! My Captain! Eis easily taken at face value. There are young sailors coming back from a long, hard journey, to find a pier full of excited bystanders to greet their return. The narrator goes on to tell the captain the good news and finds him dead, and not able to celebrate with the rest of the population. There is an extensive metaphor between the captain of the ship and Abraham …

…war, though it was rough the Union came out on top. The last four lines of the poem conclude Whitman's description of grief: Exult, O shores, and ring, O bells! But, I with mournful tread, Walk the deck my Captain lies, Fallen cold and dead. (21-24) Everyone is rejoicing due to the out come of the war. Whitman is glad the war is over, but also continues to grieve the loss of his "father. E