Elegy · Death & Loss
O Captain! My Captain!
by Walt Whitman · 1865
1O Captain! my Captain ! our fearful trip is done,
2The ship has weathered every rack, the prize we sought is won,
3The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,
4While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring;
5But O heart! heart! heart!
6O the bleeding drops of red,
7Where on the deck my Captain lies,
8Fallen cold and dead.
9O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells;
10Rise up—for you the flag is flung—for you the bugle trills,
11For you bouquets and ribboned wreaths—for you the shores a-crowding,
12For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning;
13Here Captain! dear father!
14This arm beneath your head!
15It is some dream that on the deck
16You've fallen cold and dead.
17My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still,
18My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor will,
19The ship is anchored safe and sound, its voyage closed and done,
20From fearful trip the victor ship comes in with object won;
21Exult O shores, and ring O bells!
22But I, with mournful tread,
23Walk the deck my Captain lies,
24Fallen cold and dead.
Full-text availability follows the United States display decision recorded below; status can differ elsewhere.
“O Captain! My Captain!” by Walt Whitman — quilloak.com/poems/o-captain-my-captain
Quick facts
- Poem
- O Captain! My Captain!
- Poet
- Walt Whitman
- Published
- 1865
- Length
- 24 lines
- Form
- Elegy, Rhyming Poems
- Themes
- Death & Loss, Grief
Craft notes
How this poem works
Measured from the text on this page, not copied from a summary. Counts are approximate: syllables and rhymes come from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary, which models General American English, so dialect, older pronunciation, and performance can all change what you hear.
- Shape
- 24 lines · 3 octaves
- Refrain
- “Fallen cold and dead.”Repeated lines act as the poem's hinge or drumbeat.
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Text, source & rights
A traceable edition
Full-text display is based on the cited edition and a United States term-expiry review.
- Author record
- Walt Whitman1819–1892
- Source record
- WikisourceO Captain! My Captain! by walt-whitman, Wikisource transcription
- Display decision
- Full text · United States · reviewed 2026-07-18
- Publication record
- 1865
- Text fingerprint
- SHA-256 4e3495e21c5e3ef4…
- Editorial handling
- Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.
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