In this excerpt, Whitman uses the following imagery in describing the Captain: "his lips are pale and still". It creates the mixed mood of dignity (still, motionless lips, the same ones that used to move the whole nation with their voice), and fear (they are pale because they are dead, and the future of their cause is uncertain). The connotations used in the diction support this imagery with words and phrases such as "fearful trip", "mournful tread". Another imagery, very similar in working and effect, is "my Captain lies, fallen cold and dead". This imagery supports the disturbing and solemn mood in the poem, as America was at a crossroads at this moment, having lost Lincoln. The speaker is grateful to Lincoln, but at the same time worried about America's imminent future, without this great leader.
<em>In this excerpt, Whitman uses the following imagery in describing the Captain: "his lips are pale and still". It creates the mixed mood of dignity (still, motionless lips, the same ones that used to move the whole nation with their voice), and fear (they are pale because they are dead, and the future of their cause is uncertain). The connotations used in the diction support this imagery with words and phrases such as "fearful trip", "mournful tread". Another imagery, very similar in working and effect, is "my Captain lies, fallen cold and dead". This imagery supports the disturbing and solemn mood in the poem, as America was at a crossroads at this moment, having lost Lincoln. The speaker is grateful to Lincoln, but at the same time worried about America's imminent future, without this great leader.</em>
