O 'captain, my captain
at the helm you steer sublime
in squall you hold steadfast unflinching
through the tsunami you rook your slants to roll
and in the flippancies of ragged sails and howling storms
you find the lull that soothes the vicious whispers of the tempests

O 'captain, my captain
with steady hands emboldened
you glide cantankerous waves with ease
telling Poseidon Neptune you chart this map
for in the longitude of courage the latitude of reason holds
and the laps if the gods do sway to the sanity of mist less horizon

O 'captain, my captain
below the dank and heaving decks
deckhands and maddened old salts hallucinates
in mutinous madness they gabble shanties of revolution
below deck minds see wrecks bones and journeys of no return
some mutter cap'n sleeps with the figurehead mermaid at the bow

O 'captain, my captain
unbowed you sail at bow unsurpassed
in the rip roaring rough waters you excel
in the calmness of a fair wind you exemplify bravery
a captain of all seasons from the equator to heating the Attic
where snow look like humans but crumble an melt in the sunlight