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Old Ironsides. By Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. Ay, tear her tattered ensign down! Long has it waved on high, And many an eye has danced to see. That banner in the sky; Beneath it rung the battle shout, And burst the cannon’s roar;—. The meteor of the ocean air.
Old Ironsides (poem) " Old Ironsides " is a poem written by American writer Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. on September 16, 1830, as a tribute to the 18th-century USS Constitution. The poem was one reason that the frigate was saved from being decommissioned, and it is now the oldest commissioned ship in the world that is still afloat.
A tribute to the USS Constitution, a historic ship on the verge of being decommissioned. The poet uses rhetorical devices to glorify the ship's past and argue for its preservation.
- Female
- October 9, 1995
- Poetry Analyst And Editor
Old Ironsides - Long has it waved on high. This is the ship of pearl, which, poets feign, Sails the unshadowed main, The venturous bark that flings On the sweet summer wind its purpled wings In gulfs enchanted, where the Siren sings, And coral reefs lie bare, Where the cold sea-maids rise to sun their streaming hair.
Read the full text and annotations of the poem that saved the U.S.S. Constitution from being scrapped in 1830. Learn about the historical context, literary devices, and allusions in this patriotic tribute to the oldest naval ship in the world.
Old Ironsides was famous for having defeated the British ship Guerriere in the War of 1812. Thanks to Holmes' poem, Old Ironsides was saved. Analysis (ai): This 19th-century poem laments the decommissioning of the USS Constitution, a renowned frigate known as "Old Ironsides."
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When the young Holmes read a Boston newspaper account of the proposed dismantling of the Constitution in 1830, he penned “Old Ironsides,” a sentimental poem remembered mostly for its role in saving the frigate from decommission. In the poem, Holmes offers emotional reminiscences of the ship’s past glory, of her deck “red with heroes ...
