Old Ironsides
By Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809 �
1894) |
 |
|
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
Shall sweep the clouds no more!
Her deck, once red
with heroes' blood,
Where knelt the vanquished foe,
When winds were hurrying o'er the flood
And waves were
white below,
No more shall feel the victor's tread,
Or
know the conquered knee;--
The harpies of the shore shall
pluck
The eagle of the sea!
Oh, better that her
shattered hulk
Should sink beneath the wave;
Her
thunders shook the mighty deep,
And there should be her
grave;
Nail to the mast her holy flag,
Set every
threadbare sail,
And give her to the God of storms,--
The lightning and the gale! |
By Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809 � 1894)
Listed
July 1, 2012 |
|
|
Note: Sept. 16, 1830
The frigate Constitution was launched in 1797, and took
part in
the war with Tripoli in
1804. In 1812 she captured the British
Guerriere on August 19th, and the British Java on
December 29th.
After the war she
served as a training ship. In 1830 it was
proposed to break her up, which called forth this
indignant poem.
In 1876 she was
refitted, and in 1878 she took over the American
exhibits to the Paris Exhibition. She now lies out of
commission in
Rotten Row, at the
Brooklyn Navy Yard.
|
Poem Use Permission Request
USA Patriotism! cannot
provide use permission for a poem or an author's email address
if not listed below the poem. Only the author or a legal
representative can grant permission. Try a search engine to find the
author's contact information for a use permission request or if
it is available for public use.
Note: Poems authored in the
1700s and 1800s can be used with reference to the author. |
Comment on this poem |
|
| | |
|
| War and Tragedy Poems | Poem Categories |
|
