Who is the speaker in "O Captain! My Captain!"?

Question

In "O Captain! My Captain!" by Walt Whitman, the speaker acts as if he has a close connection to Abraham Lincoln, saying:> My father does not feel my armThis suggests that they are in such a relationship that Abraham Lincoln would have felt his arm and was a fatherly figure to the speaker.> But I with mournful tread,> Walk the deck my Captain lies,Here he describes how while others are on the shore celebrating the metaphorical ship's victory while mourning, he has stayed on the metaphorical ship with Abraham Lincoln to mourn. Who is the speaker? Is their relationship truly close or is it just the relationship between a citizen and the president?

Answer 1

The speaker is Whitman, himself. He seemed to idolize Lincoln to an extent.