Break, Break, Break by Alfred, Lord Tennyson

Break, break, break,
On thy cold gray stones, O Sea!
And I would that my tongue could utter
The thoughts that arise in me.

O, well for the fisherman’s boy,
That he shouts with his sister at play!
O, well for the sailor lad,
That he sings in his boat on the bay.

And the stately ships go on
To the haven under the hill;
But O, for the touch of a vanish’d hand,
And the sound of a voice that is still!

Break, break, break,
At the foot of thy crags, O Sea!
But the tender grace of a day that is dead
Will never come back to me.

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O Captain! My Captain! by Walt Whitman

……………(written at the death of Lincoln)

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 acrowding,
For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning;
…Here Captain! dear father!
……The 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 or 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.

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