"My Captain" begins by describing Lincoln as the captain of the nation. By the end of the first stanza, Lincoln has become America's "dear father" as his death is revealed ("fallen cold and dead"). Vendler writes that the poem is told from the point of view of a young Union recruit, a "sailor-boy" who considers Lincoln like a "dear father". The American Civil War is almost over and "the prize we sought is almost won;/the port is almost near" with crowds awaiting the ship's arrival. Then, Lincoln is shot and dies. Vendler notes that in the first two stanzas the narrator is speaking to the dead captain, addressing him as "you". In the third stanza, he switches to reference Lincoln in the third person ("My captain does not answer"). Winwar describes the "roused voice of the people, incredulous at first, then tragically convinced that their Captain lay fallen". Even as the poem mourns Lincoln, there is a sense of triumph that the ship of state has completed its journey. Whitman encapsulates grief over Lincoln's death in one individual, the narrator of the poem.