Ah, captain! My captain! Our terrible voyage is over,
The ship has weathered the storm and the champion we are pursuing has been won.
The port was close at hand, and I heard the bell. People on the shore are partying,
Eyes are on our stormy ship, this resolute and brave ship;
But, heart! Heart! Heart!
Ah, deep red blood is dripping,
On the deck lay my captain,
He has fallen asleep, and he is cold.
Ah, captain! My captain! Get up and listen to the bell,
Get up-the standard flies for you-the horn blows for you,
For you, these gorgeous bouquets and colorful garlands-for you, this sea of people,
The eager faces are shining in the crowded crowd, and they are calling you;
Here you are, captain! Dear father!
My arm lifted your head!
Everything on the deck is just a dream.
You're asleep. You're cold.
My captain didn't answer, his lips were pale and he couldn't speak.
My father can't feel my arm. He has no pulse or will.
The ship has safely moored in the port and the voyage has been completed.
The victorious ship returned from a dangerous journey and achieved its goal;
Party, O coast, roar, O bells!
But I walked with sad steps,
Wandering on the deck, here lies my captain,
He has fallen asleep, and he is cold.
(translated by Zhao Jielu)
This poem is an immortal chapter written by walt whitman in memory of the first16th President of the United States, abraham lincoln. It is also a tragic elegy sung by the poet in mourning for his people, "the first great man in America".
1April, 865 14 On the evening, Lincoln, the leader who led the heroic struggle of the American people to eliminate slavery and end the situation of "semi-slavery and semi-freedom" at that time, was assassinated in Ford Theatre. The next morning, the most outstanding president in American history died unfortunately when his career had just achieved initial victory. When the bad news came out, the whole country was immersed in grief. As Ronnie described: "On this amazing April morning, never before have so many people shed tears for the death of a great man they have never seen before, as if the friendly God in their lives had gone with him, which made them feel colder and darker ... they were all sad for losing a loved one!" Whitman felt more painful than ordinary people about the death of President Lincoln. It is said that Whitman was reunited with his family in Brooklyn on the day of President Lincoln's assassination. When he learned the sad news, he thought about tea and rice all day and was extremely sad and indignant. The poet shed tears for "the superstar fell prematurely in the western night sky", and endless grief will make him "grieve for a long time with his return every spring". In fact, Whitman and Lincoln have long been in contact. Whitman appreciates Lincoln's political views and deeply admires Lincoln's character and talent. Lincoln fully affirmed and praised Whitman's poems as early as the first appearance of Leaves of Grass, and predicted that Whitman would create a new poetic style.
Shortly after President Lincoln's death, Whitman wrote In Memory of President Lincoln. There are four poems in this group, including "When lilacs bloom in the courtyard for the last time" and "Ah, Captain! My captain! The most famous, but the latter has become a more popular swan song because of its compact and short length, tragic feelings and beautiful and lively melody.
In this poem, Whitman painted a moving picture of sailing victory for us with his concise pen. The ship crossed the stormy waves and sailed slowly into the harbor after victory. On the coast, flags are flying, drums and music are playing. The eager crowd held flowers and wreaths and greeted the ship with eager eyes and eager calls. What a warm and spectacular scene this is! Where is our captain? He fell quietly in a solemn victory, and the captain, as kind as his father, lay on the deck in a pool of blood forever. He didn't see the crowd cheering for him, didn't hear the triumphant song played for him, and he didn't share the joy of this victory with others! Is there anything more deplorable and tearful in the world than this? ! The "I" on the deck was heartbroken and whispered to my beloved captain that I wanted to help him up and let him see this magnificent scene and listen to this magnificent music. However, all efforts are in vain. The captain has fallen asleep. How I wish this were a dream now! However, this is a fact. The sadness on the deck is in sharp contrast to the carnival on the coast. Deep remorse and great grief and indignation rose in the bottom of my heart and poured out, as if a depressed volcano was erupting, violently impacting the emotional gate. "I" can't help but hold my head high and shout: "Let's party, coast, roar, bells!"
This poem is also quite artistic. On the surface, its brushwork seems to be unrestrained and arbitrary, and it is the direct expression of the poet's feelings. But a careful reading makes people feel subtle and meaningful, without the disadvantages of being dull and vague and taking in everything in a glance.
From the perspective of this poem, we can see that Whitman is original. The poet wrote about the ship and its captain, but his focus was neither why the ship took risks at sea nor how people mourned the captain who had just rested after the ship docked at the port, but only captured the moment when the ship entered the bay, leaving the reader to use his imagination to complete the whole situation. This way of writing makes this poem concentrated in length, rich in connotation, lively in rhythm, full of unity and not unconventional at all.
This poem was written in memory of President Lincoln, but the poet did not describe Lincoln's great achievements positively, and even did not mention Lincoln's name throughout, but skillfully used symbolism to express the characters. He compared Lincoln to a "captain", and "father" is not only extremely appropriate, but also makes the relationship between president, poet and reader more equal, harmonious and cordial.
In this poem, Whitman also successfully uses affirmative and negative techniques, which makes it have a strong artistic appeal. What we see in the poet's pen is a picture of victory, but the joy of victory contains great sadness of loss. The joy on the coast and the sadness on the deck, one positive and one negative, generate and set off each other, making the poet's theme deeper and more prominent. Not only that, but this mutual contrast also increases the fluency and musical sense of the picture. The main theme on the deck and the chorus on the coast, one after another, set off each other and echo each other, just like a magnificent symphony.
Whitman is famous for his free verse, but in this poem, he attaches great importance to the role of phonology. The whole poem consists of three sections, which are closely connected and advance layer by layer, such as waves in the sea, each with its own rhythm. Each section has eight lines, the first four lines are long, two lines rhyme, and the last four lines are short, which rhymes alternately. The alternate use of long sentences and short sentences, as well as neat and changeable rhymes, make the rhyme and rhythm of the whole poem both orderly and intricately beautiful, catchy, sad and moving, with heroic momentum and profound thoughts in the frustration of sound and emotion, which makes people sad and hate to read.
This poem achieves a high degree of unity in content and form. The whole poem contains feelings of grief and indignation and ups and downs, which fully embodies the poet's profound attainments in controlling traditional poetry. (Zhao Jielu)