Lyrical Voyage

Worksheet Description

The worksheet presents Walt Whitman’s poem “O Captain! My Captain!” and instructs the student to read the poem and then write a paragraph on a separate page about how the poem demonstrates the characteristics of an elegy. The text of the poem is provided, which mourns the loss of a leader using an extended metaphor for the United States after the Civil War. The student is encouraged to engage with the text and use critical thinking to identify the elegiac elements within the poem.

The goal of this worksheet is to teach students about the features of an elegy through the analysis of a classic example. It seeks to enhance the student’s ability to interpret poetry and recognize literary devices, such as metaphor and extended allegory. This exercise specifically helps students understand how personal loss can be expressed through poetic form and how public events can be mourned in a personal way. By writing a paragraph about the poem’s elegiac qualities, students learn to articulate their understanding of literature and its thematic components.