O Captain! My Captain!

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.
== Background and Inspiration ==
The poem is by Walt Whitman
O Captain! My Captain! was included in version 6.0 of Relics of Hyrule with the Ruptured Towers and the rest of the Ruptured Poems. It is included in Loss to explore the themes of death present in the dungeon. The poem can also be considered an epitaph for the Hero of Time, or any incarnation of Link summoned during the Battle of a Thousand Heroes. From that perspective, the "people all exulting" are the people of Hyrule. The narrator's reference of "father" may also serve to signify the Hero of Time as an arch-hero to whom the citizens of Hyrule are grateful for saving their lives in the past.
== See Also ==
The Ruptured Towers - Loss
Ruptured Poems
Category:Books
Category:Poetry