America the Beautiful Day 29: “Old Ironsides”

Today I want to once again turn to poetry.  There are some fantastic poems that celebrate America, and during the course of the 31 Day challenge, I wanted to share a couple of those.  Today I want to share “Old Ironsides” by Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

Old Ironsides was the nickname given to the ship  U. S. S. Constitution.  The Constitution is one of the six original frigates built in our navy and is the oldest commissioned ship in the world.  The ship serves as a museum, but has never been decommissioned.  One of the reasons it is still around today is because of the attention paid to it by this poem.

Old Ironsides

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!