Oh Captain! My Captain! Extended Metaphor
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O Captain! My Captain! by Walt Whitman
Lesson Plans by Bridget Baudinet
Walt Whitman’s 1865 poem “O Captain! My Captain!” is one of the best-known American poems of the 19th century. In addition to learning about elegy and extended metaphor, students will be able to analyze Whitman’s sound devices, diction, and unique poetic structure.
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Storyboard Description
Walt Whitman O Captain My Captain Extended Metaphor
Storyboard Text
- LITERAL TEXT
- HISTORICAL CONNECTION
- O Captain! my Captain!
- The captain is a metaphor for Abraham Lincoln, president of the United States from 1861-1865. Lincoln was like a captain because he was the leader of the country in the same way that a captain leads his crew.
- The ship
- The ship signifies the nation, or the United States. The term ship of state is often used to refer to a nation's government.
- The ship has weathered every rack
- The rack, or storm, signifies the Civil War between the Union and Confederacy which threatened to destroy the United States and tear it in two. Weathering the storm means that the United States has survived despite the war.
- The ship is anchor'd safe and sound, its voyage closed and done
- The ship arriving safely means the war has ended. The Confederacy surrendered on April 9, 1865. This meant that the southern states would remain in the union and the United States would continue to exist as a nation.
- on the deck my Captain lies, fallen cold and dead
- The captain's death refers to the assassination of Lincoln by John Wilkes Booth on April 15, 1865. He was shot while at the theater and died a few hours later.
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