O Captain! My Captain! Quotes
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O CAPTAIN! my Captain! our fearful trip is done;
The ship has weather'd every rack, the prize we sought is won;
The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,
While follow eyes the steady 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
Context
Walt Whitman's "O Captain! My Captain!" opens with a bang.
In the opening lines, the speaker shouts to his captain that their voyage is coming to an end. The speaker is apparently overjoyed that their ship has endured and they have made it back alive—which makes it sound like a pretty dangerous trip (or maybe he just gets really seasick).
But his exclamations turn from joy to despair quickly when he realizes his captain is not looking so good.
Fun fact: the poem is actually about Abraham Lincoln, who was assassinated right after reaching the end of the long journey of civil war and the abolishment of slavery. It's a painful and heartfelt cry because the very man who brought about such change doesn't get to share in it. Lincoln probably never new who Whitman was, but Whitman sure knew him.
Where you've heard it
Three words: Dead Poets Society.
Pretentious Factor
If you were to drop this quote at a dinner party, would you get an in-unison "awww" or would everyone roll their eyes and never invite you back? Here it is, on a scale of 1-10.
Lamenting the fall of your hero should never be pretentious. Neither should quoting Dead Poets Society.