Oh Captain! my Captain! The charts have been redrawn.

The voyage shifts its course at last, the old assurances gone.

No cheering port, no resting quay, no bells of safe return,

The compass spins, the winds arise, the warning lanterns burn.

Yet O my heart! 

They cut you from the helm,

While darker seas lie straight ahead,

And lesser hands take realm.

Oh Captain! my Captain! they ask you not to stay;

No fault declared, no crime confessed, just “change” to clear the way.

You held us fast through fractured days, through waves that broke the line,

You stood for crew before the crown, for sense before design.

Here Captain! Steady mentor!

This deck still knows your tread.

They speak of strength and future bright,

But cast you overboard instead.

My Captain does not rage nor plead; his voice remains composed;

He leaves with charts unfinished still, with truths too rarely posed.

The ship moves on, not safe, not sound, its timbers strained and thin;

The storm they feared lies not behind; it waits where we sail in.

Let others shout of progress bold,

And praise the course they chose;

I walk the deck you should command,

As thunder round us grows.