Answer:
The first stage of loss in the poem, the lament, is marked with a tone of despair, grief, and horror. Whitman sets this mournful mood through the repetition of the word heart to emphasize the magnitude of his grief. The phrase “bleeding drops of red” also creates a dramatic image of death and horror.
The poem shifts to a relatively brighter tone in the praise stage of the poem, when the speaker urges the captain to awaken and see how everybody is celebrating his victory. Whitman sets this mood using phrases such as “bugle trills,” “bouquets and ribbon’d wreaths,” and “swaying mass.” The tone and mood of the poem is temporarily lifted in the second stage of loss, which praises the idealized dead.
The poem ends with a somber tone on a note of acceptance. The speaker has accepted that his captain is dead, but he can still take consolation from the fact that they’ve won the war and their ship is “anchor’d safe and sound.” Although he has closure, he continues grieving over the death of his captain, making his way toward the captain’s corpse with a “mournful tread” at the end of the poem.
Explanation:
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