A Poem for Presidents’ Day
posted by Nate Oman
It is late in the day, but I offer up the following as a poem for Presidents’ Day:
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.
–Walt Whitman
[photo credits: Wikicommons]
February 18, 2008 at 8:31 pm
Posted in: Uncategorized
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Responses (2)
Maryland Conservatarian - February 19, 2008 at 8:02 am
” This holiday is designated as “Washington’s Birthday” in section 6103(a) of title 5 of the United States Code…”
calling it “Presidents’ Days” is a particular pet peeve of mine because it lumps the likes of Jimmy Carter in with great, competent Presidents like George Washington.
Jon Campbell - February 25, 2008 at 9:58 pm
I love that Walt Whitman poem. He uses his words so well that you can evoke a mental image of what he is saying like the Captain being cold and dead on board the ship.
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