The opening lines of the poem depict scenes of rejoicing following a ship's victorious return to harbor. The speaker addresses the captain as he congratulates him on navigating the ship through a "fearful" (i.e. frightening) journey filled with "racks," or storms. After all these dangers, the ship has returned home, having won the "prize" of victory. The port celebrates by greeting the victorious ship with cheers and bells. The ship is described as "steady" but also battle-hardened, "grim," and "daring," thus emphasizing its bravery and longevity in the face of long dangers.
These opening lines have a measured rhythm that mirrors the speaker's celebratory tone. The lines are made up of two rhyming couplets, so the rhyme scheme follows a regular pattern of AABB.
The meter of the lines, too, follows a regular iambic pattern, like this:
The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,
This rhythmical regularity emphasizes the ceremonial, almost stately quality of this scene. It seems as if everyone is sharing in the collective celebrations. And indeed, the poem is an extended metaphor for the Union's joy when the American Civil War ended in 1865. After four years of vicious fighting that cost many American lives, the Union—which the poet compares to a ship—finally declared victory against the Confederacy. In the poem, this triumph is compared to a ship coming home to harbor. These lines suggest that everyone in the Union rejoiced with equal fervor at the end of a long and painful journey.
The fact that the poem opens with a repeated apostrophe—which, from context, readers will know is addressed to Abraham Lincoln—also immediately establishes the president as responsible for this great victory.