A tribute from a great man to another great man. :)

O Captain! My Captain!

Walt Whitman

O Captain my Captain! our fearful trip is done;

The ship has weathered 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 ribboned 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 anchored 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.

This poem gives me the chills every time I read it.  I think that it's wonderful. :) I first heard it in the Robin Williams movie "Dead Poet's Society" - one of my favorite movies of all time. Walt Whitman wrote it in response to the death of Abraham Lincoln and the end of the Civil War. I have so much respect for what Abraham Lincoln did for our country. He was such an incredible example of what God wants us to do with our lives. For Whitman to recognize that like this... It's touching, I think. You can feel his respect through the words. Definitely one of my favorites. But then... I say that about all of them. :)