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The Captain

The historical context of the poem’s writing and publication makes it clear that the captain addressed by the speaker symbolizes Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln served as the president of the United States during the four years of the American Civil War, when armies from the North and South fought a fierce battle over the fate of the Union. Though he eventually led the Northern states to victory, Lincoln was assassinated just five days after the Southern Confederacy surrendered. These events set the stage for Whitman’s representation of Lincoln as a captain who helmed the metaphorical ship of state. Just as Lincoln died before witnessing the fruits of his achievement, so too does Whitman’s captain navigate his ship out of dangerous waters, only to die before sailing back into port. But why did Whitman choose to represent Lincoln specifically as a ship captain? One key reason is that the captain metaphor is easy to understand. A ship cannot function without a strong leader who ensures cooperation among the crew. In stormy seas, a good captain may be most decisive factor between survival and death. According to Whitman, Lincoln served the same function for the United States as a whole.

The Ship

If the captain of the ship is a symbol for President Abraham Lincoln, then the ship itself is a symbol for the United States of America. By likening the United States to a ship, Whitman draws on a very old literary tradition that goes back to the Greek philosopher Plato and his great work of political philosophy, the Republic. In that work, Plato’s fictionalized version of Socrates describes democracy in terms of seafaring. He posits that a democracy is composed of many sailors. These sailors represent all the citizens and politicians who think they know best, and who quarrel ceaselessly and ultimately get nothing done. A divided community such as this requires a proper navigator, whose intimate knowledge of the stars enables them to lead the way. For Plato, the captain of the ship of state had to be a philosopher. Whitman’s speaker never implies that Lincoln was specifically a philosopher. Even so, as the man who stood at the helm of the ship of state, Lincoln clearly occupies the symbolic role of the navigator. And as the navigator, he steered the United States through the turbulent waters of the Civil War.
 

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