Walt Whitman’s O Captain, My Captain! is so rich with meaning. The ship has reached it’s course and the trip is done. But the captain has given his life for his endeavor.
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; 10
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; 20
Exult, O shores, and ring, O bells!
But I, with mournful tread,
Walk the deck my Captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead.
I’ve often asked myself, “What am I living for”, but I find myself asking myself, “what am I dying for?” What am I giving myself up for, so that others may live. In my work with people, we often resorts to the comfort zone that allows us to do easy things. But the cross provides us with a terrifying vision of life in its fullest. To give our life is the greatest of love.
How would you answer that question?
