歐，船長！我的船長！我們可怕的航程已經終了，
我們的船已安然渡過所有的難關，我們所追求的錦標也已經得到，
港口就在前面，我已聽見鐘聲，聽到了人們的歡呼，
千萬隻眼睛都在望著我們的船安穩前進，它是那樣威嚴和勇敢；
可是，歐，心啊！心啊！心啊！
啊，鮮紅的血滴，
就在那甲板上，我的船長躺下了，
他已渾身冰冷，心臟停止了跳動。

惠特曼在內戰即將結束之際寫下這首詩，主要目的在於表達他對林肯總統遭到刺殺的反應。他的詩作很受歡迎，也因為如此，他常被要求要引用這些詩文，所以他總是說「我很後悔我寫了這些…..。」

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.

Whitman wrote the poem in response to the assassination of the president just as the Civil War was coming to an end. His poem was so popular, and he was requested to recite it so often, that he said, "I'm almost sorry I ever wrote [it] . . ."

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