O Captain! My Captain was written by Walt Whitman (1819-1892). He wrote the poem for the death of Abraham Lincoln in 1865. Read the poem below and see a copy of the original manuscript.

O Captain My Captain

O Captain! My Captain!

Walt Whitman was quoted as saying he was almost sorry he’d ever written, O Captain! My Captain!, though he admitted that it had “certain emotional immediate reasons for being.” He wrote the poem for the death of Abraham Lincoln in 1865. It is the only poem of his that was widely anthologized during his lifetime. It gained immediate acclaim once it was published in the New York City Saturday Press. When ever he gave public lectures and readings during the 1880s, he was asked to recite the poem.

You can read the poem and see an animation of Walt Whitman reciting the poem below.

O Captain! My Captain - Video
Video animation of Walt Whitman reciting the poem.

O Captain! My Captain!
by Walt Whitman

O captain! my captain! our fearful trip is done;
The ship has weathered every rack, the prize we sought is won;
The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,
While follow eyes the stead 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 ribboned wreaths, for you the shores a-crowding:
For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning.

O 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 anchored 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 silent tread,
Walk the spot my captain lies
Fallen cold and dead.