Talk:O Captain! My Captain!

message: Should we include, as a margin note, that this poem is used in the movie Dead Poets Society?
Dboonz (talk) 08:52, 17 November 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: Thank you, Dboonz, and thank you, Wikipedia. I came to this article to find just that information. But, knowing Wiki's advice against trivia sections, I figured I'd find what I was looking for in the Article Discussion page. And, voila, here it is! Thanks. Jsharpminor (talk) 18:26, 21 February 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: And now allow me to contribute something useful... Per Wikipedia's policy - articles are about their subjects. This is both useful and appropriate in the Dead Poets Society page, but seems to be unrelated to this article. Jsharpminor (talk) 05:06, 5 March 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Dead poets society  

message: Just wondering why the quoted version of the poem has capitalization altered from the original? Joshr915 (talk) 06:30, 21 April 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Capitalization 

message: There is not much here except the poem itself and some references to it.  Needs quite a bit of work.  VonWoland 06:50, 13 February 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: If no one else does it, I'll do it over the summer :P Mathwhiz 29 (talk)  —Preceding comment was added at 02:36, 3 March 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  This page needs some fixin' 

message: Good job, 66.71.35.223, whomever you are.  You picked up on several typo's in the text of the poem that I missed, in spite of a fairly long time scuitinizning it. VonWoland 02:23, 26 March 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: *snigger* --Kizor 20:01, 6 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Excellent Edit! 

message: It would appear that the accepted version of the poem -- the one on this page and in my copy of Leaves of Grass -- differs slightly from the final proof pictured on this page: most notably the line in the third stanza "But I with mournful tread" appears as "But I with silent tread".  Whitman was known for making changes to his earlier poetry later in life: is this an example?  24.0.97.119 22:10, 27 February 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Yeah, as the caption for the picture says it is his original copy, which was published in 1855, the year the first version of Leaves of Grass came out; he later revised it in 1871 and again in 1888. ;) Mathwhiz 29 (talk) 02:32, 3 March 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Differences 

message: The full text given doesn't employ any new lines, as it should according to the givin photograph. Might we reorganize it thus? : -
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.
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 ribbon’d wreaths—for you the shores a-crowding; 
For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning; 
:Here 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 anchor’d 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 mournful tread, 
:Walk the deck my Captain lies, 
::Fallen cold and dead.
I know nothing about the poem, so I'm waiting for 48 hours before replacing the version in the articale. Comments, anybody? --^{Jonathan} ^{Sch}ä^{fer}. 05:12, 21 November 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Cool :P Mathwhiz 29 (talk) 02:34, 3 March 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: I'd rather you format it that way. Looks more like a poem, if you know what I mean. Randolf+slayer (talk) 22:59, 17 February 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Crampt Full Text Layout 

message: The copyright should state that the poem itself has lapsed into the public domain and is not under GFDL.
Drbits (talk) 18:09, 22 May 2008 (UTC)
thread_title: Copyright

message: This article was much bigger in June. Why is it that everything except the lead, text, and audio has been deleted? Wikisource now has more background information than this article.  --Dromioofephesus (talk) 12:50, 29 October 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: I was wondering about that myself.  The Background & Analysis section was removed in June, and I have now restored it. --A More Perfect Onion (talk) 13:40, 12 November 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Reduction in size 

message: The line in particular is "As the voyage ends, so does the captain's life", which the poem depicted to the side clearly states. Unless the problem is with the implied link between the voyage and the captain's life, or with the timing of the captain's death, the "citation needed" should be removed.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by Andr0o (talk • contribs) 04:02, 10 February 2009 (UTC)
thread_title: Citation needed

message: The poem was also used in the show Full House.
72.28.208.41 (talk) 23:10, 14 April 2013 (UTC)
replies: text: Sorry this is not notable. I, and probably many others, have never heard of a show called "Full House". Graham Colm (talk) 23:21, 14 April 2013 (UTC)
replies: text: It doesn't matter whether you or "many others" have heard of it; lists of popular culture references simply aren't appropriate for articles. 70.172.214.70 (talk) 20:57, 12 May 2013 (UTC)
thread_title:  Edit request on 14 April 2013 

message: This poem is also being used in the USS Avalon Star Trek Simulation  — Preceding unsigned comment added by Simchadude (talk • contribs) 13:29, 23 May 2013 (UTC)
thread_title:  Fan Simulations 

message: Reference to this poem is also made in SUITS, the TV-series
81.129.244.125 (talk) 10:53, 10 September 2013 (UTC)
thread_title:  Edit request on 10 September 2013 

message: The analysis section is poorly written. It reads like a high school essay. 
Furthermore, since the central metaphor of the poem is so obvious, much of the "analysis" is unnecessary. It's enough to simply state that it's about Lincoln (as the introduction does).
I don't have or want a Wikipedia account, so I can't delete the section. The only useful information in the analysis is that the rhyming is unusual for Whitman. That should be moved to the introduction. 98.218.180.142 (talk) 01:18, 25 September 2013 (UTC)
thread_title:  Analysis section is terrible 

message: In the information about References in Pop Culture, I wish to add Wander Over Yonder to the list of shows that have used the "O Captain! My Captain" line within their show. 
HayaMika (talk) 04:04, 12 October 2013 (UTC)
replies: text: Not done: please provide reliable sources that support the change you want to be made. If you can help with sources to the others listed, that would be great, too. As it is, uncited information like this runs the risk of being deleted. --Stfg (talk) 11:58, 12 October 2013 (UTC)
thread_title:  Edit request on 12 October 2013 to the "O Captain! My Captain" page. 

message: It may be true that 'The poem was known as one of the greatest poems written at the time of the Civil War.' But still it needs justifying.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.185.216.206 (talk) 19:27, 12 October 2013 (UTC)
replies: text: Yeah. And that will be hard, since it depends on agreeing what constitues greatness in a poem. It could run and run ;) Deleted. --Stfg (talk) 20:41, 12 October 2013 (UTC)
thread_title:  Justification needed 

message: I've just made an edit to the 'in popular culture' section to enhance the reference to this work in the TV show Park and Recreation. The main article links to the correct wikipedia page (on the fictional company 'sweetums') but I did not know how to make this 'tidy'. It currently has an ugly full URL.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by Adagio67 (talk • contribs) 20:43, 20 June 2014 (UTC)
replies: text: I have fixed the formatting, but I think the whole of the "In popular culture" section is uncited trivia and should be deleted. Graham Colm (talk) 22:21, 20 June 2014 (UTC)

text: I haven't a clue as to what you are trying to say. Graham Colm (talk) 21:41, 21 June 2014 (UTC)

text: It still needs referencing to a reliable source. Graham Colm (talk) 21:41, 21 June 2014 (UTC)
thread_title:  format assistance needed 

message: The line by line analysis seems to be too lengthy and unnecessarily detailed - much like a teacher teaching in a class. Could it be written differently? Prabhakar Sarma Neog (talk) 08:26, 28 June 2014 (UTC)
thread_title:  Style of the "Analysis" section 

message: Imho, it would make more sense if we put the analysis after the text of the poem?--little Alex (talk) 05:14, 22 June 2017 (UTC)
thread_title:  placement of analysis 

message: The following doesn't fit in the article, but am pasting here for posterity: Eddie891  Talk Work  22:05, 1 November 2020 (UTC)
thread_title:  Removed from article 

message: I am having trouble finding reliable secondary sources to support the allusions to Nelson's death that I personally feel every time I hear the poem.  
The Religious imagery section provides citations to Schöberlein's contrived interpretation that:The poem's speaker places its "arm beneath [Lincoln's] head" in the same way that "Mary cradled Jesus" after his crucifixion. With Lincoln's death, "the sins of America are absolved into a religio-sentimental, national family"
There is no support for the implication that Whitman was aware of Correggio's 1525 Deposition.
Yet there is no mention of the simpler interpretation that the imagery of the speaker's arm beneath the head could be based on the image found here which clearly shows an arm beneath the head at .  It is more likely that Whitman has seen images like this 1841 publication  that fit much better with the nautical imagery of the poem.
It is interesting to note that even if the analysis at "Penny's poetry pages Wiki" came from a source more reliable than fandom.com, it could not be "quoted".  Nelson is never mentioned in the text.  Simply displaying the image next to the relevant stanzas has a much more powerful effect (at least on me) than the "Religious imagery" section.  Annette Maon (talk) 11:38, 19 October 2021 (UTC)
replies: text: The difference is that a secondary source references Correggio's Deposition, while secondary analysis doesn't substantiate a connection to that image (I've been looking in to some analysis of nelson and the nautical allusions-- there isn't much. While you are welcome to criticize Schöberlein's interpretation all you want, he is a respected scholar and his opinion isn't going anywhere, regardless of what you may "personally feel"-- I bet many people hear many things when listening to the poem. I'm not sure exactly what you want here, we cannot just add an image without sourcing to support its connection. YOu're welcome to find reliable sources establishing this connection. Eddie891  Talk Work  12:43, 19 October 2021 (UTC)
thread_title:  Nautical allusion to Nelson's death