One of my favorite movies is Dead Poet’s Society starring Robin Williams. The poem O Captain! My Captain! played a central role in the film.
O Captain! My Captain! By Walt Whitman
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!
The 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.
Walt Whitman
Wikipedia Link
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- The Dead Man Walking By Thomas Hardy
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Indeed a lovely line from a poem. It’s interesting to me that I grew up in Britain, where we were made to memorize poems, sonnets, speeches etc.
That is simply not the case here. What’s odd is, should I opt to change my green card to becoming an American, I’ll have to learn a boat-load of crap that the average citizan has no grip on.
I’m s’posed to know all the Presidents, which ain’t so bad. But also the ENTIRE song that goes on and on. Yep, that’s it, the National Anthem. What, I wonder, makes me a better American? But I digress. So sorry!