"Oh, captain, my captain! Whitman wrote it in 1865 in memory of President Lincoln. The whole poem is ingenious in conception, clear in organization, profound in language and full of sincere feelings between the lines, expressing the poet's admiration and nostalgia for Lincoln.
This poem consists of three sections, each section has a unified structure, and the sentences are arranged neatly and symmetrically. Each section consists of four long sentences and four short sentences. Four lines of short sentences are written in the format of indented two letters. Each section is shaped like a silhouette of a huge sailing boat: the blown sail consists of four long sentences, and four short sentences are like the ship's side. The three sections of the poem are like three giant ships, sailing and sailing. This visual effect just complements the content of the poem.
The poet reveals the theme through a series of images. He enhanced the artistic appeal of the whole poem through ingenious design and the lack of elephant combination. At the first and second poetry festivals, the poet used four long sentences to describe the jubilant scene on the shore. Visual images such as "flying flag", "crowded crowd" and "bouquet" are combined with auditory images such as "call", "bell" and "horn" to form a scene of warm celebration. Then people use short sentences to describe the visual and tactile images of "dropping blood" and "cooling down", and outline the sad scene on board. This far and near, dynamic and static, happy and sad pictures form a strong contrast, rendering a strong tragic atmosphere. Poets write sadness in this way, which makes people feel even sadder. In the third section, various images such as "white lips", "no pulse", "lifeless", "coast" and "Hong Zhong" are intertwined, which contrasts the tragic assassination of the victorious captain with the festive scene of welcoming the hero, and the artistic realm is magnificent and tragic. In repeated singing and sighing, the poet deeply expressed his mourning for Lincoln.
Steelman wrote this poem in the tone of a sailor who lived with the "captain" day and night. It seems that the poet really got into a fight with the "captain" and won a great victory. He also witnessed the murder of the captain. Poets skillfully use appellation changes to express the relationship between distance and life and death. In the long sentence in the first section, the poet uses the first person. Expressed the poet's strong desire to share the joy of victory with the "captain". In the second section, the poet talks directly with the captain in the second person. It shows that the poet can't accept the reality that the "captain" has died, and the death of the "captain" seems to be just a poet's nightmare. The use of the second person name accurately shows the poet's trance state and grief, and expresses the poet's strong desire to "wake up" the captain by calling. The beloved "captain" in the poet's eyes still lives in people's hearts. In the third section, the poet uses the third person "he" and "mine" to indicate that "the captain" has left us. The poet had to accept the cruel reality of the captain's death.
"Oh, captain, my captain! A poem with neat rhyme and strict meter is regarded as Whitman's "most traditional" poem. This poem takes the iambic part suitable for expressing solemn and heavy thoughts and feelings as the main meter. This poem uses this serious meter to enhance the lyrical effect of the poem. Seven steps, three steps and four steps appear alternately in the poem, which makes the whole poem catchy to read and smells like surging waves on the sea, and the waves are constantly changing. This sound effect coincides with the author's ups and downs of emotions and stirring thoughts. All verses in the whole poem strictly adopt the rhyme of aa bb cd ed. The neat rhythmic arrangement enhances the strength of this poem and endows it with musical effect and structural form.
The poet also skillfully applies the method of "repetition" to the beginning and end of each section. Three sections are three different pictures. The poet repeatedly chanted "My Captain" and "Fall, Die, Cool", aiming at strengthening a heartbreaking artistic atmosphere and enhancing the artistic effect of grief.
"Oh, captain, my captain! With its high harmony and unity of content and form, it shows amazing aesthetic feeling and is still popular after a hundred years.