A poem by Walt Whitman:

O Captain! My Captain! Our fearful trip is done;
The ship has weathr'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 or 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.

Also: what the English literature students called their beloved instructor in the movie Dead Poet's Society, in reference to this classic poem. They stood on their desks and hailed him with this phrase, thus thwarting the pressure of strict conformity placed on them by the school and giving him much deserved props.

The Captain named in the poem is U.S. President Abraham Lincoln. The poem was written in memoriam of Lincoln.

There are theories that Lincoln was homosexual (the Log Cabin Republicans get their name from this), and Whitman was most definitely gay, which led to the theory that this poem is actually a love song of sorts.

I hold NO opinion on either theory, I just know they exist.

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