Boston, Massachusetts
(July 4, 2014)
Image courtesy /US Navy Seaman Matthew R. Fairchild
/Wikipedia
OLD IRONSIDES
(Written with reference to the proposed breaking up of the famous
U.S. frigate Constitution)
Ay, Tear her tattered ensign down!
Long has it waved on high,
And many an eye 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 fell the victor's 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 lightning and the gale!
"Old Ironsides"
(1830)
Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.
(1809-1894)
American writer and poet
THE STORY BEHIND THE POEM
And Charlestown Navy Yard
USS Constitution Museum
(Uploaded August 8, 2018)
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