O Captain! my Captain! our fearful trip is done;
The ship has weather'd every rack, the prize we sought is won;
The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,
While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring:
    But O heart! heart! heart!
      O the bleeding drops of red,
        Where on the deck my Captain lies,
          Fallen cold and dead.

O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells;
Rise up--for you the flag is flung--for you the bugle trills;
For you bouquets and ribbon'd wreaths--for you the shores a-crowding;
For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning;
    Here Captain! dear father!
      This arm beneath your head;
        It is some dream that on the deck,
          You've fallen cold and dead.

My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still;
My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor will;
The ship is anchor'd safe and sound, its voyage closed and done;
From fearful trip, the victor ship, comes in with object won;
    Exult, O shores, and ring, O bells!
      But I, with mournful tread,
        Walk the deck my Captain lies,
          Fallen cold and dead.

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Text Authorship:

• by Walt Whitman (1819 - 1892) [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

• by Arthur Olaf Anderson (1880 - 1958), "O captain! My captain!", published 1925 [ men's chorus ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Arthur Bergh (1882 - 1962), "O captain! My captain!", op. 29, published 1938 [ SATB chorus, piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Jean Bohannan , "O captain! My captain!", published 1911 [ TTBB chorus, piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Frank Charles Butcher (1882 - ?), "O captain! My captain!", op. 4, published 1910 [ voice, piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Walter Johannes Damrosch (1860 - 1950), "An Abraham Lincoln Song", published 1934 [ SSATTB chorus, baritone, piano or orchestra ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Walter Johannes Damrosch (1860 - 1950), "An Abraham Lincoln Song", published 1936 [ baritone, chorus, and orchestra ], note: scored for "chorus of liberated slaves" [sung text not yet checked]
• by Will Earhart (1871 - 1960), "O captain! My captain!" [ unison chorus and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Arthur Farwell (1872 - 1952), "O captain! My captain!", published 1918 [ mixed chorus and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Lee Hoiby (1926 - 2011), "O captain! My captain!", from I was there, no. 4 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Klaus Miehling (b. 1963), "O captain! My captain!", op. 294 no. 4 (2019) [ voice and piano ], from Sieben Lieder nach Walt Whitman, no. 4 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Cyril Meir Scott (1879 - 1970), "My captain", op. 38 (Two Songs) no. 1, published 1904 [ voice and piano ], London: Elkin [sung text not yet checked]
• by Kurt Weill (1900 - 1950), "O captain! My captain!", published 1942 [ voice and piano ], from Three Walt Whitman Songs, no. 1, New York: Chappell [sung text not yet checked]
• by Charles Wood (1866 - 1926), "O Captain! my Captain!", 1898, published 1899 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]

The text above (or a part of it) is used in the following settings:

• by William Harold Neidlinger (1863 - 1924), "Memories of President Lincoln", published 1920 [ baritone or tenor, piano ]
  • View the full text. [sung text checked 1 time]
    

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

• GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 24
Word count: 201