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.
-- Speaker (Lines 1 – 3)

Importance: These lines open “O Captain! My Captain!” and appear to establish a festive and triumphant mood. The speaker’s famous direct call to his Captain, “O Captain! my Captain!” initially seems to be asking his Captain to direct his eyes to the joyful and victorious sights around him, such as “The ship” that “has weather’d every rack,” “the prize [they] sought” and have now “won,” and the “port” that is “near” filled with ringing “bells” and “the people all exulting.” But this scene which the speaker presents in these first lines is a false image. The lines lull the reader into a sense of complacent optimism before ripping that all away in the lines that...