But I with mournful tread
Walk the deck my Captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead.
NOTES AND QUESTIONS
For Biography, [see page 556].
Discussion. 1. Tell what you know of the poet that fitted him to write of Lincoln’s character and achievements. 2. In this poem the Union is compared to a ship; who is the captain of the ship? 3. What fate befalls the captain, and at what stage of the voyage? 4. What “port” has been reached? 5. What is “the prize we sought and won”? 6. Point out words of rejoicing and of sorrow in the last stanza. 7. What parts of the poem impress you with the deep personal grief of the poet? 8. This poem put into words the nation’s deep grief at the time of Lincoln’s death; do you think this accounts for the wide popularity of the poem? 9. Read Whitman’s poem, “When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloomed,” describing the journey of the train bearing the body of the martyred President from Washington to Springfield, Illinois.
Phrases