Elegy-Wes Grigsby

O Captain! My Captain!

Walt Whitman

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, 
                                  
         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;
               Exult O shores, and ring O bells!
                 But I with mournful tread,
                   Walk the deck my Captain lies,
                     Fallen cold and dead.

http://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/o-captain-my-captain 

This elegy, the elegy of Walt Whitman contains the traditional phases seen in an elegy. These traditional phrases of an elegy are lament, praise, and consolation. He laments the passing of his captain. He praises his captain as his father. He gives consolation to his captain through celebration. The traditional phrase of an elegy of lament is seen in the lines "But O heart! heart! heart! O the bleeding drops of red, Where on the deck my Captain lies, Fallen cold and dead." This is the emotional lamentation of the loss of the narrator to his/her captain. The traditional phrase of an elegy of praise is seen in the lines "Here Captain! dear father!" This is the heartfelt praise of the narrator to his/her captain. But I with mournful tread, Walk the deck, my Captain lies Fallen cold and dead.This is the emotional consolation of the narrator to his/her captain. Thus, Walt Whitman has written an elegy that fulfills the criteria of a traditional elegy, with the the traditional phrases of an elegy being lament, praise, and consolation.