O Captain My Captain And Drum Taps Analysis

“People without a knowledge of their past history, origin, and cultures is like a tree without roots” (Quote, Marcus Garvey). From my perspective, a person has to know the past, to shape the future. By investigating and digging into the history, we discover more and more relevant facts, from which we can take an advantage. Thus, the analysis of literature and poem becomes more interesting and intriguing when we eventually learn more about its historical and cultural background. In this essay, I am going to look through several poems of Walt Whitman: “O Captain! My Captain” and “Drum Taps.” These two precisely represent the struggles of the greatest event – American Civil War, which marked a defining moment in the United States History.
According to his estimates, he made more than 600 hospital visits and helped 80,000-10,000 soldiers. That is to say; this experience made him return to a poetry world. Moreover, he had an idol – the president of the United States – Abraham Lincoln. We should bear in mind that Lincoln’s goal was to redefine the United States, to be more precise he wanted to make it an independent and indivisible country. Moreover, he wanted to destroy the gap that occurred between southern and western parts. Whitman loved and respected Lincoln firmly. That is to say, according to history, Whitman had an opportunity to meet Lincoln in the streets of Washington, as the president was taking a horse carriage ride every day. We should also bear in mind that both of them had similar opinions and thoughts toward slavery; both of them were against it. Nonetheless, it is vital to mention that after the War, Lincoln’ lawyer had a carried copy of Whitman’s book “Leaves of Grass” (published in 1855). He carried it to president’s office, where President read the poems with great pleasure. Thus, Lincoln remained after the war in his office in Washington and continued to prosper his nation. The era of Reconstruction began; things were coordinately different from the times of the Civil war. Unfortunately, the beloved president was assassinated on April 1865. Whitman held a grief in his heart, as his hero passed away. In tribute to his hero, he wrote a sequel to “Drum-Taps” – “When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d.” This collection consisted of 18 poems, which included poems about Abraham Lincoln. “Oh, Captain! My Captain” is one of them. While reading the poem, we see faith, hope, and cleverness. We see the spirit of an independent and faithful president. The main idea of the poem is that a sailor sings a song, in which he praises the captain who is alive after a scary trip. They were on a ship