Walt Whitman

I celebrate myself;
And what I assume you shall assume;

For every atom belonging to me, as good belongs to you.

O Captain! My Captain!

1

O CAPTAIN! my Captain! our fearful trip is done;
The ship has weather’d 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.


2

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 ribbon’d 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.

3

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 anchor’d 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.

“Não deixes que termine o día sem teres crescido um pouco sem teres sido feliz, sem teres aumentado os teus sonhos. Não te deixes vencer pelo desalento. Não permitas que alguém retire o direito de te expressares, que é quase um dever. Não abandones as ânsias de fazer da tua vida algo extraordinário. Não deixes de acreditar que as palavras e a poesía podem mudar o mundo. Aconteça o que acontecer a nossa essência ficará intacta. Somos seres cheios de paixão. A vida é deserto e oásis. Derruba-nos, ensina-nos, converte-nos em protagonistas de nossa própria história. Ainda que o vento sopre contra, a poderosa obra continua: tu podes tocar uma estrofe. Não deixes nunca de sonhar, porque os sonhos tornam o homem livre.”

Walt Whitman