a·bey·ance

əˈbāəns/

noun

1. a state of temporary disuse or suspension.

   "matters were held in abeyance pending further inquiries"

   synonyms:

   in suspension, in a state of suspension, in a state of dormancy, in a state of uncertainty, in remission;

ef·fuse

iˈfyo͞oz,iˈfyo͞os/

verb

1. ransitive verb

2. :  to pour out (a liquid)

3. intransitive verb

4. 1:  to flow out :  emanate
5. 2:  to make a great or excessive display of enthusiasm <they effused about his accomplishments>

1. 3:  give off (a liquid, light, smell, or quality)

   • 
     
   • 4:  talk in an unrestrained, excited manner.

     "this was the type of material that they effused about"
2. 
   
3. 
   

Literary Allusion to Walt Whitman: Mr. Keating has a picture of Walt Whitman in his classroom and he quotes him at least twice in the movie.  Read the small excerpts from Song of Myself  below and the entire poem "O Captain, My Captain".  What connections do you see between certain lines and some of the attitudes and ideas that Mr. Keating tries to impart to his students? Annotate and then discuss with a partner.  See how many connections you can make.

Song of Myself (1892 version)

BY WALT WHITMAN

1

I celebrate myself, and sing myself,

And what I assume you shall assume,

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

I loafe and invite my soul,

I lean and loafe at my ease observing a spear of summer grass.

My tongue, every atom of my blood, form’d from this soil, this air,

Born here of parents born here from parents the same, and their parents the same,

I, now thirty-seven years old in perfect health begin,

Hoping to cease not till death.

Creeds and schools in abeyance,

Retiring back a while sufficed at what they are, but never forgotten,

I harbor for good or bad, I permit to speak at every hazard,

Nature without check with original energy.

52

The spotted hawk swoops by and accuses me, he complains of my gab and my loitering.

I too am not a bit tamed, I too am untranslatable,

I sound my barbaric yawp over the roofs of the world.

The last scud of day holds back for me,

It flings my likeness after the rest and true as any on the shadow’d wilds,

It coaxes me to the vapor and the dusk.

I depart as air, I shake my white locks at the runaway sun,

I effuse my flesh in eddies, and drift it in lacy jags.

I bequeath myself to the dirt to grow from the grass I love,

If you want me again look for me under your boot-soles.

You will hardly know who I am or what I mean,

But I shall be good health to you nevertheless,

And filter and fibre your blood.

Failing to fetch me at first keep encouraged,

Missing me one place search another,

I stop somewhere waiting for you.

O Captain My Captain
a poem by Walt Whitman

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 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.

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 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.

·         1) The  “Captain” is Abraham Lincoln.

·         2) Does the poem have a positive or negative tone toward Lincoln? List some words that reveal the tone.

  

·         3)What event about Lincoln does this poem relate? What line tells you this?

  

·         4)What is the extended metaphor in this poem? (hint: Abe Lincoln is a Captain is part of the metaphor)