Walt Whitman was an American Poet and a son of Long Island. Walt Whitman wrote "O Captain! My Captain!," his most popular poem on the death of Abraham Lincoln. "O Captain! My Captain!," differs from any of his other poems in rhyme and rhythm. Walt Whitman loved the sea so much, this poem suggests the rise and fall of the sea. After the war, Whitman worked in several government departments until he suffered a stroke when he was 54 years old. He spent the rest of his life in New Jersey, where he continued to write poems.

The narrator starts off by saying, "O Captain! My Captain! our fearful trip is done, The ship has weathered every rack, the prize we sought is won," and to me that means they won the battle. After that part of the poem the poem starts to get sad and the mood of the poem changes. The narrator sums the poem up by saying, "Exult O shores, and ring O bells! But I with mournful tread, walk the deck my Captain lies, Fallen cold and dead.," which I think means while everybody else is celebrating he is mourning over who they lost.

"O Captain! My Captain!," is written in first person. Abraham Lincoln is referred to as Captain in the poem. I think the deck that Lincoln lies on fallen cold and dead is the ground.

The mood of the poem, "O Captain! My Captain!," is very sad, depressing and realistic. "Where on the deck my Captain lies, Fallen cold and dead.," is an example of what the mood of this poem is like.

In my opinion this poem could not have been written any better than it is right now. This poem, being written in first person, helps the mood and the imagery. I didn’t really like this poem because it was a little bit boring but not much stuff is interesting about the civil war in my opinion.

I Found my poem and other information at:

The next day held good weather. The day after that it rained and snowed all day. April 3 he read his Bible and prayed. He didn’t write anything for the next day. On April 5th he received a letter from home and said the weather was bad. The next day he answered the letter he received the day before and commented on the weather. The 7th of April he again commented on the weather. The next day he tells he was drilled and he comments on the weather. On April 9th he talks about General Burnside and how they could hear every regiment cheer as the general walked though their campsites. The next day he talks about how they had dress parade and how he didn’t like it. On the 11th of April he talks about the weather again. On the next day he received a letter from Lydia. In the next journal entrée he tells about the weather. The next day he writes back to Lydia. The 16th of April he writes to his sister Mary and hoped to receive a letter from home but did not get one. On the next day he was happy because there was no dress parade. The day after that he received a letter from home, answered it and had their first regimental drill. On April 21st he wrote to his mother and took down their tents and left. The next day he drew 5 day's rations. The day after that he marched 15 miles. On April 24th he started at 8 o'clock and marched 16 miles and stopped at dark. The next day he started at 6 o'clock marched 16 miles and camped near Alexandria. The day after Bingham wrote home. On April 27th Bingham marched 15 miles to the Fairfax courthouse. On the next day he camped at Bristol station and was called at 11 o'clock to guard an ammunition train. On the 29th he got permission to go ahead of the regiment. The next day he marched five miles then encamped.

On May 1st he packed up moved forward 150 rods then moved back 50 rods. On the 2nd he went target shooting. On the 3rd of May Bingham drew six days rations and had guard duty. On the 4th Bingham marched nine miles to Brandy Station, took dinner, laid there until about 4 then they marched another 13 miles got their coffee and laid down until 12. On the 5th of May his brigade was sent out on picket at night. On the next day Bingham's brigade saved the day by fighting the front line. The next day they moved a short distance to the right but they stayed in the woods. On May 8th they left at 3 in the morning toward Fredericksburg 12 hours later they passed through Chancellorsville. On May 9th Bingham slept against his arm but wasn’t disturbed, he had a good sleep. The next day they moved forward about one to one and a half miles at night. On May 11th they retreated across the NY branch of the Mattaponi River and they slept in the rain against their arms. On May 12th Bingham's brother Joseph was wounded and Paree was killed, company E lost 22 soldiers to death and wounds. On May 13th Bingham had a sleepless night. May 14th Bingham's brigade slept against their arms again but had little sleep. On the 15th of May Bingham's brigade have held their position for 5days and have not been fired upon yet. He wrote nothing on the 16th. He met with Hugh Means on May 17th and he still holds his position. On the 18th they were fired upon so he couldn’t go to the hospital. On May 19th Bingham received a letter from his sister for him and he received a letter for Joseph he wrote back about Joseph's death. On the next day he wrote a letter to his sister and went to the hospital to find out some more information on Joseph's death but he didn’t. On May 21st Bingham was relevied at 3 o'clock, he recieved two more letters and marched all night until 11 o'clock then he took breakfast and marched on again. On the 23rd of May Bingham left at 8 o'clock A.M. toward Richmond on a crooked road and slept on the hill of the North Amna River. The next day Bingham remained on the North Amna River until dark then he waded across the river, under heavy cannonading, and laid on the bank until morning. On the 25th of May Bingham shot at and were shot at by the Rebels. The next day Bingham recieved two letters and he wrote a letter he also retreated across the river and took a son gaurd for the 5. On the 27th he stayed in his pit until 11 then left toward the White House. On the 28th Bingham got coffee, marched all night and crossed the river at dawn. The next day Bingham met a large portion of the army and slept all night, first full nights rest in 27 days. On the 30th Bingham marched 5 miles until within 12 miles of Richmond. The next day he stayed in his pit all day.

On the 1st of june Bingham wrote a letter and the Rebs. attacked but were overpowered. The next day the Rebs. attacked again and wounded 9 but none were thought to be dangerous. On the 3rd Bingham had no engagement in the fighting but it was all around him. On the 4th of June he recieved a letter, wrote a few lines and sent it back. On June 5th it stopped raining, they advanced forward dug up pits and he wrote home. The next day he washed his clothes. The 7th he stayed on picket til 5o'clock. On the 8th he stayed up all night. The next day Bingham was on picket duty until 12 and he recieved a letter from Mary. On the 10th Bingham was relieved from picket at 5. On the 11th he wrote to Mary and on the 12th he marched pits near Petersburg. On Friday, June 17th Bingham was shot in the right thigh. After he was shot, Bingham had a series of treatment in several hospitals and he was honorably discharged on July 8th, 1865. 12 miles to the White House in the dark and arrived at dawn. The next day Bingham wrote nothing. On the 14th Bingham crossed the Chickahominy and camped near the James River. On the next day Bingham marched until dusk and threw up rifle