— Ch. 1 · Wartime Context And Creation —
O Captain! My Captain!.
~7 min read · Ch. 1 of 7
Walt Whitman moved to Washington, D.C. at the start of the American Civil War in 1861. He held government jobs with the Army Paymaster's Office and later the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Whitman volunteered as a nurse in army hospitals during the conflict. His brother George Washington Whitman served as a Union soldier and was captured by Confederate forces in September 1864. The younger man spent five months imprisoned at Libby Prison near Richmond before being released on the 24th of February 1865 due to poor health. Whitman traveled to New York to visit his brother while he recovered. During this period, Lincoln stopped in New York City in 1861 on his way to Washington. Whitman observed the president-elect closely and noted his striking appearance and unpretentious dignity. He trusted Lincoln's supernatural tact and idiomatic Western genius. Whitman wrote in October 1863 that he loved the President personally. They shared similar views on slavery and the Union. Whitman declared later that Lincoln got almost nearer him than anybody else. The assassination of Lincoln occurred on the 15th of April 1865. This event greatly moved Whitman who had never met the president directly. He wrote several poems in tribute including O Captain! My Captain.
Publication History And Revisions
O Captain! My Captain first appeared in The Saturday Press newspaper on the 4th of November 1865. It also appeared in Sequel to Drum-Taps later that same year. Copies of Sequel to Drum-Taps were not ready for distribution until December despite an early October publication date. An early draft existed in free verse before Whitman revised it into its final form. The poem was included in the 1867 edition of Leaves of Grass. Whitman continued revising the work throughout his life. He published versions in Passage to India during 1871 and in the 1881 edition of Leaves of Grass. His friend Horace Traubel recorded a harsh newspaper article from the 11th of September 1888 calling the volume waste paper. Whitman responded by saying Damn My Captain and admitting he was almost sorry he ever wrote it. He acknowledged the poem had certain emotional immediate reasons for being. Between the 1870s and 1880s Whitman gave lectures over eleven years about Lincoln's death. He usually began or ended these events by reciting the poem despite growing prominence allowing him to choose other works. In the late 1880s Whitman earned money selling autographed copies of O Captain! My Captain. Purchasers included John Hay, Charles Aldrich, and S. Weir Mitchell.