O Captain! My Captain! by Walt Whitman

O Captain my Captain! our fearful trip is done,
The ship has weathered every rack, the prize we sought is won,
The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,
While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring;
But O heart! heart! heart!
O the bleeding drops of red,
Where on the deck my Captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead.

O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells;
Rise up -- for you the flag is flung for you the bugle trills,
For you bouquets and ribboned wreaths for you the shores a-crowding,
For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning;
Here Captain! dear father!
This arm beneath your head!
It is some dream that on the deck,
You've fallen cold and dead.

My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still;
My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor will;
The ship is anchored safe and sound, its voyage closed and done;
From fearful trip the victor ship comes in with object won;
Exult O shores, and ring, O bells!
But I, with mournful tread,
Walk the deck my Captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead.

Strangely enough, this is a quote I associate with Firefly above all else - even though (according to my impeccable source) it was never actually in the show. Unless you count references to "Captain Tightpants" Even so, it has become a meme for Firely fans possibly because Mal was the doomed captain of a successful ship.

And now, for those of us who have followed the Tuesday Poem, with the end of an era is almost upon us,the Tuesday Poem blog I would like to thank the two people who captained the ship, Mary McCallum, and more recently Helen Lowe. Both of whom are accomplished poets and writers well worth the read.

I would love to wish everybody a great week, stay strong, and maybe enjoy some more poetry at the Tuesday blog, or check out my Firefly poem Eulogy to battles lost.