Poetry Review, Please?

[thequirkyduo]

Hey everyone, for my final paper in poetry class, I have to write an essay about one of Walt Whitman's poems. Part of my assignment is to collect peer reviews of the poem 'O Captain, My Captain.' Basically, a review consists of 2 or 3 short paragraphs about the poem. You can talk about what you think it means, how it makes you feel, etc. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
-Amber and Morgan

Here's the poem:
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.

[Ricky]

watch the "Dead Poets Society"... They explain it in it, and is an awesome movie ;D

[MohamedFF]

The beginning of the poem introduces into a happy scene: a succesfull trip returning from a long sail and crowds cheering an bells ringing all over the port for the arrival of the travelers, and a sailor calling his Captain to observe the city

But the happiness and hope in the first part turns into the sense of shock felt and conveyed not only in his words but in several techniques (the exclamation points throughout the poem); also, there is in an early line, “O heart! heart! heart!” which indicates an inability to express more than a single blurted word; another factor is the way the poem returns frequently to mentioning the dead body, as if the speaker is trying to force himself to believe it

Then comes death, abrupt and unexpected — a matter of being here one moment and gone the next. It is senseless. The poem implies that if the universe were just, the Captain who has triumphantly lead this ship to safety would at least be able to enjoy the crowd’s praise, but death has made that impossible. In this poem, unlike many war poems, there is no glory in death; there is no reward mentioned for a job well done on earth; the speaker makes no plans to carry on in the name of the Captain: those ideas generally come up later, once the shock of death has worn off.

[thequirkyduo]

Jun 16, 2010 21:48:03 GMT -5 MohamedFF said:

The beginning of the poem introduces into a happy scene: a succesfull trip returning from a long sail and crowds cheering an bells ringing all over the port for the arrival of the travelers, and a sailor calling his Captain to observe the city

But the happiness and hope in the first part turns into the sense of shock felt and conveyed not only in his words but in several techniques (the exclamation points throughout the poem); also, there is in an early line, “O heart! heart! heart!” which indicates an inability to express more than a single blurted word; another factor is the way the poem returns frequently to mentioning the dead body, as if the speaker is trying to force himself to believe it

Then comes death, abrupt and unexpected — a matter of being here one moment and gone the next. It is senseless. The poem implies that if the universe were just, the Captain who has triumphantly lead this ship to safety would at least be able to enjoy the crowd’s praise, but death has made that impossible. In this poem, unlike many war poems, there is no glory in death; there is no reward mentioned for a job well done on earth; the speaker makes no plans to carry on in the name of the Captain: those ideas generally come up later, once the shock of death has worn off.

THANK YOU! you are a fabulous person.

[MohamedFF]

you welcome
ps:i love your videos

[thequirkyduo]

Jun 16, 2010 22:51:29 GMT -5 MohamedFF said:

you welcome
ps:i love your videos

thank you so much! for the review, and for the compliment. we really appreciate it!

[thequirkyduo]

For all who care... our final projects are turned in, so no more poetry reviews are necessary. Thank you greatly for all of the help. But I guess if you still want to discuss the poem (?) feel free to do so...
- le twins