Old Ironsides by Oliver Wendell Holmes

Old Ironsides
by Oliver Wendell Holmes

Ay, tear her tattered ensign down!
Long it waved on high,
And many an eye has danced to see
That banner in the sky;
Beneath it run the battle's 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 victors tread,
Or know the conquered knee;-
The harpies of the shore shall pluck
The eagle of the sea!

O, 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 lighting and the gale!

Ugh! This poem is amazing!!! One day, I hope I can write like this. Its sooo good! We were doing these tests in English and this popped up. I asked my teacher if I could get a copy of it, and she let me. In case you guys don't get it apparently its about a old naval force ship that was old and over used. So, they wanted to tear it apart and use it for ship parts. But, the author wanted to sink it thinking it would be a better grave for the ship, because heroes died on that ship. So, because the author wrote this poem its still in the Boston Harbor today. WOW!!! I cant believe how much this poem changed! I want to write something that means something like this one does. WOW!!!