Comparing Roosevelt And O Captain !

For this paper I will be comparing and contrasting two poems that were written during the 17th and 18th centuries. The first poem I will talk about, “O Captain! My Captain!,” was written by Walt Whitman. The poem I will be comparing it to is, “To Roosevelt,” written by Rubén Darío. Both of these poems were written about past presidents of the United States. Whitman wrote his poem about Abraham Lincoln, and Dario wrote his about Theodore Roosevelt. Although both of these poems had a similar subject they did not share a common theme. I think the main reason these two poems are different is because of what was going on in the world when they were written. Whitman wrote the poem “ O Captain! My Captain!” in 1865 after the Civil War had ended. This is a time when Abraham Lincoln was being viewed as a hero by many people of all races. On the contrary, Rubén Darío wrote “To Roosevelt,” in spite of Theodore Roosevelt, during his involvement with Panama while they were separating from Columbia. Many people was not happy with the way Roosevelt handled things aggressively, and this included Dario. Roosevelt's strong tactics is what encouraged
My Captain!,” spoke of Abraham Lincoln in a positive way, but was wrote in a time of desperation. Walt Whitman was not a very political man, but he viewed Lincoln as a good leader of this country. Whitman wrote the poem around the time when Lincoln was assassinated in 1865. In the poem, he talked of a ship and spoke of Lincoln as being the captain. The ship is believed to be the United States coming into the harbor after the Civil War was over. At the end of the poem he says, “the ship is anchored safe and sound, it’s voyage closed and done, from fearful trip the victor ship comes in with object won.” This is saying that before Lincoln died, he set the United States up to succeed in the future, by signing the Emancipation Proclamation into order. In my opinion, Whitman viewed Lincoln as a hero in this