The Ship

The ship in “O Captain! My Captain!” famously symbolizes the United States of America. Much like how the ship in the poem is triumphantly arriving back to port with “the prize we sought … won” following a “fearful trip,” the United States had survived the bloody Civil War that threatened to split the State permanently into North and South. The Union had triumphed over the Confederacy and its desire to split from the Union in order to continue the practice of slavery. Though the ship of state has managed to get through the conflict in one piece from the perspective of general public, which is eagerly “exulting” in the ship’s safe return, the insider situation aboard the ship is not as joyful as it appears to the public (3). The Captain, representing recently assassinated President Lincoln, has died. The speaker questions what will happen to the...