Divergence in tradition: Whitman's successful conventionality in “O Captain! My captain! » The assassination of President Abraham Lincoln marked the tragic end of the American Civil War. Walt Whitman, who idolized Lincoln because he believed they shared the common goal of uniting the nation, wrote one of his most famous poems: “O Captain! My captain! as a lament, describing the horror he felt after learning of the beloved president's death. Compared to almost all of Whitman's other poems, “O Captain! My captain! stands out in that the structure and style implemented in the poem do not offer an accurate representation of Whitman's usual writing. The poem garnered much appreciation and praise, although Whitman did not appreciate the compliments as they had never applied to his usual poetry and remains popular and well-known even to this day. Because Lincoln's death reverberated across the United States, Whitman uses conceit and allusion, regular end rhymes, stanzas, and meter in "O Captain!" My captain! to connect all people in the United States grieving a big...