In O Captain! My Captain! I need help finding out what are they comparing to the civil war
I memorized this poem in 4th grade. What do you think is being compared?
To find out what is being compared to the Civil War in the poem "O Captain! My Captain!" by Walt Whitman, you can start by analyzing the context and symbolism of the poem.
First, let's understand the background of the poem. "O Captain! My Captain!" was written as an elegy to honor President Abraham Lincoln after his assassination in 1865. The poem uses the extended metaphor of a ship's captain to represent Lincoln and a journey to represent the Civil War.
In the poem, the ship represents the United States, and the captain represents President Lincoln. The journey symbolizes the Civil War, which was a turbulent and divisive time in American history.
The comparison or metaphor in the poem is not between the Civil War and something else, but rather between the journey of the ship and the journey of the United States during the war. The poet is using the captain's death and the ship's safe return to represent the end of the war and the victory of the Union.
By examining the language of the poem, you will find lines such as "The ship is anchor'd safe and sound" and "The prize we sought is won." These lines indicate that the ship has successfully completed its journey, just as the United States has emerged victorious from the Civil War.
To sum up, the comparison in "O Captain! My Captain!" is between the journey of the ship and the journey of the United States during the Civil War. The ship's safe return represents the end of the war and the victory of the Union. Take a closer look at the poem's language and symbolism to get a deeper understanding of the comparison.