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Comparing Walt Whitman's O Me ! And O Captain ! O Life

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Walt Whitman wrote a lot of poems in his lifetime. He wrote two of the most famous poems in history, “O Captain! My Captain!” and “O Me! O Life!”. “O Captain! My Captain!” is a tribute to Abraham Lincoln, written in 1865. This is his most famous poem. “O Me! O Life!” is his way of questioning the meaning of life, and was written in 1892. The way he wrote the two poems in theme is the same sentimentally, but the structures and tones are very different. “O Me! O Life” was written by Walt Whitman for people to question their existence and find their purpose in life. It was written in 1892. With it being written in a free verse poem, -there is not a rhyme scheme. The whole poem is him questioning life until he gets to the end. He has a part of the poem that has “Answer” as the subtitle. It is his answer to his question throughout the poem. His answer is “That you are here- that life exists and identity, that the …show more content…

He means to seek meaning in your life. The line says, “Of eyes that vainly crave the light, of the objects mean, of the struggle ever renew’d,”. He is saying that the eyes want to see something great. Something that will make your life worth living. The rest of the poem is just a restatement of what was said earlier in the paper. He talks about the empty and useless years he has had. He used them years for sleeping. He wasn’t moving toward his dreams. These last few lines have the same meaning as the third line in this poem. “O Captain! My Captain!” is probably Walt Whitman’s best poem he has ever written. It was written in 1865. It was written in a post-Civil War America. The captain he is referring to is Abraham Lincoln. He was the 16th president of the United States during the Civil War and post-Civil War. He leaded the Union during the Civil War. He abolished slavery, and he freed many slaves throughout the United States. He was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth during a

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