Blog Post 1: The Meaning Behind "The Bleeding Drops of Red"

The name of my blog, "The Bleeding Drops of Red", refers to Walt Witman's dramatic poem "O Captain! My Captain!" written in 1865. Witman wrote the poem about Abraham Lincoln's assassination right after it happened. The poem is about a large ship on a fearful trip, which loses its captain. The ship symbolizes the United States, its captain is Lincoln, and the fearful trip refers to the American Civil War. The crew members (the American people) are devastated when their captain (Lincoln) is killed. I found this poem very interesting because I am interested in war. Lincoln is a role model to me because he was such a great leader, so reading such a metaphorical version of his assassination was very intriguing. The largest reason I am interested in this poem is because of the positive portrayal of Lincoln that is given. I am a huge Lincoln fan, so I'm happy that the author portrayed him in a positive light. Lincoln was a genius, he had a completely different way of thinking than everyone else. Some of his quotes that I have read, as I analyze them I get chills down my back because of how insightful they are. It is like Lincoln could understand people better than they could understand themselves, which made him an incredible leader, which was fitting for the President of the United States.